


Dream

by emosleemo



Category: starwars
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, I don’t know how to write, Romance, Soulmates, alot, babyyodaisatroublemaker, butalsoabadass, dinisagreatdad, dinisasofty, dinisliterallysuchasofty, dinneedsahug, idontknowwhatimdoing, jelousreader, kindaslowburn, likeahugeteddybear, likeeveryfiveminutes, mandoa, maybealilsmut, possiblyforcesensativereader, probablycliches, readerblushes, readerisshy, readerneedsahugtoo, sexualassualt(i put a Tw in the chapter), thatscoveredinbeskar, toothrottingfluff, unrequitedlove(itsnot)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:28:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27768316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emosleemo/pseuds/emosleemo
Summary: Growing up on Nevarro as a street vendor left much to be desired. Your life was routine and boring...until suddenly it wasn’t. After stumbling into the Mandalorian Covert, you’re tasked with helping a familiar bounty hunter, Din Djarin, and his adorable foundling. You expected his cold, droid like demeanor. What you didn’t expect, was for him to make all your dreams finally come true.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader, The Mandalorian/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	1. Start of Something New

It was a slow day on Nevarro, though that wasn't saying much. You never made a lot of credits being a street vendor, but it was the 'family business' and you wanted your mother to be happy, it was her dying wish so this is what you got. You'd always dreamed of getting out of this town, ending this routine that you could never seem to break. You wanted to see the galaxy, and you kept telling yourself that you would as soon as you had enough credits. But with your moms declining health and recent death, and the slow business on Nevarro, your dream was repeatedly pushed to the back of your mind for 28 years. You glanced around at the town you called home. The sun beat down on you, but the golden white glow wasn't calming or serene. instead of a warm regal tone, it gave the worn streets and cracked buildings a lifeless aura, the already grey stone seeming even paler in the suns rays. your worn grey pants and light white tunic fit right in with the town around you. bleak and boring, the only color coming from the many booths set up around the edges of the streets. your boots crunched on the rocky ground as you walked over the re-fold a shirt that a rodian had picked up to inspect before deciding it wasn't for them and walking away. you thought back to your mom. you missed her dearly, even though it had been 8 months since she died, and even though you knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier when she passed. your dad was out a lot of days now, not that you were close to him in the first place. if you were being honest, you hardly noticed his absence, and it made you feel slightly guilty. you two had never been close, but you knew he loved your mom, and you can't imagine how he must feel losing the love of his life. you wondered if they were soulmates, you liked to think they were. you had always been a bit of a romantic, though some kids would tease you about it in school. you always dreamed of meeting your own soulmate, someone who you could feel safe with, who made you feel loved and cared for. as you got older, you realized how stupid it sounded, but you always held on to that dream nonetheless, pushing it back next to the one of seeing the stars.

The clinking of his boots and glint of the sun off his helmet brought you out of your thoughts. The Mandalorian, you realized, and he had... a child? The stories you've heard of the Mandalorians consisted of them being ruthless, cold blooded killers who were really good at.. well, killing. Seeing a kid with one looked out of place next to the man who's aura screamed danger and darkness. You kept yourself busy while he walked by anyways, he already got enough attention as it was. You only stoped your fake tasks after he had walked by and a customer came up to your booth. They grabbed a hair piece and looked at it before handing you 3 credits and walking away. the hairband was 5 credits, but you wanted to avoid conflicts whenever possible. you sighed and put your head in your hands. today was going to be a long day. 

~•~•~

The Mandalorian passed you three times the rest of the day. 

The first occurred about 2 hours ago, with him covered in shiny new armor and no kid in sight. You figured it was a bounty, but you couldn't shake off the anger you felt at the Mandalorian for turning it in. it was a child for christ's sake. what could it have done? you knew something weird was happening here, but the guild and bounty hunting wasn't your business. you knew their policy well enough, though. 'no questions asked'

The second occurred a little bit after that. You were eating a little snack during a break when the same foot falls you'd become so good at picking up were able to be heard. He seemed to be walking back into town. for what? you had no idea, but when you heard a loud explosion after the sun had set, you had a feeling he was the cause of it. 

And the third, was a few minutes ago. He walked back looking the same as he had an hour ago, but now he had a bundle in his arms. After closer inspection you realized it was the kid.  
he came back for it  
But something was telling you he wouldn't be able to make it out of here so easily, and the beeping that started to echo in the street furthered that fear.  
tracking fobs you realized. After quickly grabbing a blaster your mom gave you just in case, you crept closer to where others were headed. 

but upon seeing the large crowd surrounding the Mandalorian, you realized that even with your help (which wasn't much considering you hadn't shot a blaster in years) he wouldn't be able to make it out. Then an idea hit you. It was stupid and you would probably get killed, but you thought of going to his house. After maybe or maybe not lowkey stalking the Mandalorian over the years (it's not your fault that he's a walking mystery), you'd seen him take a certain path most frequently, and it didn't lead to any main buildings or places you knew of. Your best bet was that he lived there, so maybe he had some big weapons? You weren't sure, but it was worth a shot. right?

Turning down the street, nothing jumped out at you, and there were so many other paths and doors, but then a red curtain caught your attention. the sewers? but your not one to judge, and he isn't here often. you ran over to the curtain and almost fell down the steps, and then when you got down them without tripping, you found yourself face to face with the barrel of a gun, and behind the gun was another Mandalorian. holy shit. after a quick glance around you realized this was not the mandalorians house, it was a covert. so.. technically his house?  
"Who are you and how did you find us" The Mandalorian in front of you basically growled.  
"i- um you see so- i- i was looking for his house right? a-and he goes down this road and so i thought maybe he lived here and"-  
"Who are you talking about"  
you are the dumbest person alive  
"right! sorry um the mandalorian up there" you say as you point up.  
"he has shiny armour? glints in the sun and basically blinds you? uh anyways he's in trouble and so i thought maybe he had something at his house or whatever that could help him? which now that i think about it seems really du"-  
a female voice cuts you off this time.  
"we must help our brother, grab your weapons and head to the top. This is the way"  
the Mandalorians echo the phrase  
"This is the way"  
you watch as everyone around you nods before running to an entrance you hadn't even seen when you got down there. probably because there was a blaster pointed at your head but, y'know.  
"what is your name" your head snaps over from the Mandalorians to the Woman now in front of you, who is also Mandalorian.  
"uh- y/n l/n"  
"why did you want to help Din Djarin?"  
din djarin? is that..  
she must see the confusion on your face  
"The Mandalorian in trouble, why did you want to help him?"  
"um because it was the right thing to do...? he had a kid and i just want to help"  
She nodded while pushing you towards the entrance you came from.  
"y/n, you must help him with the kid. it is a job that he cannot do alone. you want to help. this is how. tell him the armorer sent you and give him this" she says while handing you a silver pendant of some animal with tusks on it.  
you'd reached the entrance by now, and you turn back to thank her, but she's already gone.

~•~•~

You returned to where the Mandalorian was in time to see him running to his ship. you quickly follow suit only to have a blaster pointed at you yet again.  
"wait! i'm here to help you i swear! the a-armorer sent me and uh"- you lift up the pendant with shaky hands "s-she gave me this to p-prove it."  
he stares at you for a second longer before turning and running back to his ship.  
"let's go"  
you quickly follow him and let out a deep breath now that your finally safe.  
"hold it mando"  
oh you've got to be kidding me.  
a blaster is pointed at you for the third time  
today.  
"i didn't want it to come to this."  
A man you recognize as Greef Karga has his blaster pointed at you and The Mandalorian. you glance at the Mandalorian who had unfortunately already sheathed his blaster  
"but then you broke the code"  
you see mando slightly tilt his head and you follow his gaze to a carbonite box. holy shit.  
you can't dwell on it for long though as he shoots a cable from his vambrace and smoke fills the hull. you quickly realize what he's trying to do and duck down behind some crates. blaster shots fly around you until a metal clang followed by a grunt is heard, and the ramp shuts. You pop up from your hiding spot to find the Mandalorian already looking at you. you open your mouth to say something, but he's already heading up to the cock pit. You follow behind at a distance and sit in the copilots seat, looking for a seatbelt and fastening it. you've never been off the planet before, and the thought fills you with excitement. The baby next to you coos up at you and lifts his arms. You gently pick him up and set him in your lap.  
"hello little man" you say while bopping his nose, which earns a laugh from him and you smile warmly. you lightly rub his head and bounce him on your knee while watching another Mandalorian fly up next to the ship and saluting the one currently seated in front of you.  
"i gotta get one of those" the Mandalorian mumbles. You accidentally let out a little giggle and quickly regret it when he turns around sharply and glares at you.  
"sorry i um." you clear your throat "that was"-  
"Who are you"  
okayyy, at least he didn't kill you.  
"uhm- y/n l/n"  
he stares at you for a moment before speaking again.  
"why are you here. i've never seen you before"

Dins POV

"why are you here. i've never seen you before"  
that was a lie. he has seen her before, she was a street vendor, always set up in the same spot selling trinkets and clothing. He'd only noticed her because she was one of the the only ones who seemed to ignore his presence. While others would stare or cower in fear, she just tended to her shop and didn't give a second glance. her soft voice stopped Din's thoughts from continuing.  
"i um i'm a street vendor and y'know i saw you with the kid and then without the kid and then with the kid again so i figured you saved it or whatever and i wanted to help." her eyes widen and cheeks tint pink when she realizes what she said. "NOT that i watch you or anything that would just be weird and creepy. which i'm not haha um, a-and so i uh went looking for... someone who could help yes and i accidentally found the covert and y'know told them w-what was h-happening and well you know the rest."  
Din was amused to see her face turning pinker with every word. what he still didn't understand was why she was here why she wanted to help him. what were her ulterior motives. everyone had some, so what were hers?  
"Why are you helping me" his tone came out darker and he saw the fear it instilled in the girl. she was and open book, unlike those he was used to dealing with, her emotions were plain on her face.  
"I- i've seen you on N-Nevarro and i saw the kid and how you saved h-him, so when i saw what was going on i couldn't just stand by and w-watch what was happening. i wanted to help you b-because it's the right thing to do. there's nothing left for me on Nevarro, n-not anymore."  
He saw her eyes tear up and watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek. she quickly turned her head down and occupied herself with the kid. Din watched as she smiled warmly at the child and heard the delighted coos as she played peek-a-boo with him. he turned back and piloted the Crest away from Nevarro as soft sounds and giggles filled his ears.  
————————————————————————

Hey guys!! Sorry for the kind of short and boring chapter , i promise the next few will be a bit longer and won't be as boring. also please ignore any grammar mistakes in here lol. if there is anything major though then pls lmk. i think what i'll do is have one or two chapters for each episode, but i'm not really sure yet. anyways thank you for reading this and i hope you have a great day/night:)


	2. I Don’t Like Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Din stop on a planet for fuel and food, and your connection with both the child and Mandalorian continues to grow.

You and The Mandalorian had been floating around in space now for a couple weeks, only stopping once to refuel and get supplies. 

you had been looking for rations to feed the kid, and were shocked to find only two left. after a little investigation, you found out the kid had stolen 5 or 6 of them. how he had done this, you had no clue, but you realized this meant you had to talk to the Mandalorian. din djarin you reminded yourself. after working up some courage you climbed up to the cockpit and sat in the co- pilots seat. you were going to say something, but lost confidence upon actually getting up there with him. so after a full 5 minutes of nothing but silence and your foot rapidly bouncing up and down he tilted his head in your direction.  
"s'there something you need?"  
his tone was bored and you could feel your face heating up immediately.  
"um- yeah sorry, the kid somehow got hold of some rations, and uh we only have a few left."  
he stayed silent and you assumed he was mad.  
"i'm sorry i know my job is to watch him and i swear i have i really don't have any idea how he got to them but i can put them somewhere else maybe o-or"-  
"It's fine" he cuts you off "we needed to refuel anyways. the kid... can be sneaky sometimes. he probably got to them while you were asleep"  
you let out a sigh of relief and nod your head. that was the most he had said to you in weeks, and you felt awkward in the silence that followed, so you excused yourself to go check on the kid. 

you wanted to give him a name. calling him kid or baby etc was starting to get redundant. so you looked at him and started brainstorming.  
"hmm let's see.. green? no. maybee greeny? no. what aboutt...softy? no no. oh! or maybe furry? eh not that either."  
"What are you doing?"  
you let out a yelp and jumped around to meet the Mandalorian who had snuck up on you and the kid.  
"jeez you scared me. how do you even move so silently with all that on" you gesture to his armor. when you don't receive anything more than a tilt of his head you remember his earlier question.  
"well, i am giving our kid here a name" but then your eyes blow wide and your cheeks tint when you realized what you said. why is it that he always causes you to feel so flustered  
"i- i mean the kid. yeah the kid. and he needs a name! so i wanted to give him one, isn't that right green bean. aha! green bean! do you like that name little guy hmm?" you boop his nose and tickle him while you both start to laugh.  
"copikla" the Mandalorian mumbles before tensing up. you look up at him with your brows furrowed.  
"hmm?"  
he doesn't answer and instead walks back to the ladder. he pauses for a moment once he reaches it.  
"we'll be landing soon"  
and then he's gone. 

~•~•~  
The planet you landed on was not much better than the one you had left, and your excitement was slightly dampened. Din knew you'd never left Nevarro after seeing your amazement with hyperspace and just space in general. he would find you pressed against the cockpit windows sometimes looking almost entranced, the stars making your eyes sparkle, and the light making you almost glow. now, you were excited that you were on a new planet, but it was sandy and dry, and though there was thankfully no lava, the sun made it feel like you were swimming in a pool of it. No matter the heat though, you wanted to see this planet and all it had to offer, so you picked up the kid and followed after din. 

The town looked a bit similar to the one you grew up in. street vendors, stone buildings, but it seemed more lively and colorful than Nevarro and you already thought it was amazing. you quickly spotted a shop selling food and other essentials and tapped Din's arm.  
"hey Din what about"-  
he quickly pulled you into the nearest alley and pressed you up against the wall. your mind started racing, partly because you were scared for your life, and partly because his body was pressed up against yours.  
"how do you know that name"  
oh no.were you not supposed to know it? what if you broke his code? oh no this is not good now he's gonna kill you. how could you be so stupid. you breathing quickened and your body started trembling. when he pulled back slightly you flinched and shut your eyes, waiting to hear the blaster shot that would end your life. tears silently trailed down your cheeks. you felt so weak in this moment, but you couldn't help it. stupid stupid stupid-  
"hey. hey look at me. hey. i'm not gonna hurt you."  
his voice was soft, softer than you'd ever heard it, and for some reason, you trusted him. you focused on the feeling of bean in your arms, the wall against your back, the crunching of feet on the pavement, the smell of something being cooked and managed to slow your breathing down. it's okay. you're okay. he said he won't hurt you. you're okay.  
you finally open your eyes to see Din standing further away from you now. you figure you owe him an explanation though and quickly rush it out.  
"the armorer. she told me. i'm sorry i didn't know i wasn't allowed to say it that was dumb i"-  
he raises a hand up to stop you from continuing.  
"i haven't heard that name spoken since i was a child. it caught me off guard."  
you feel yourself relax at that though his voice sounded strained.  
"so i didn't break your code?"  
for some reason he tenses at that.  
"you"- he shakes his head. "no you didn't break my code"  
you lightly smile feeling better.  
"okay. good. uhm so can i call you.. that? o-or should i just stick with Mando because i'm perfectly fine with either really"  
he tilts his head at you, something you've realized he does a lot and doesn't speak for a few moments.  
"you can call me Din, but only when no one else is around."  
you quickly nod your head, excited for some reason that he's letting you call him that.  
"yeah yeah of course"  
he nods his head and then turns back to the street, motioning for you to follow him. 

The store you had noticed earlier was a decent size. the tan brick slightly warmer than that on Nevarro. thankfully there were not too many people inside, so you and din quickly grabbed what you needed. You eyed a small but pretty silver necklace, a design that you weren't familiar with yet seemed familiar hung from the chain, but after seeing that you didn't have enough for it, you reluctantly left it behind. you started to head out of the shop but slowed when you realized Din wasn't behind you. you turned and relaxed when you saw him walking up and headed back to the ship. your excitement on being at this planet had severely lessened when you felt all the sand in your.. everywhere. you decided then that you hated sand. it was course and rough and irritating. you came to the entrance of the hangar when Din suddenly stopped.  
"mando?"  
he lifted his hand as to say 'be quiet' and then whispered to get on the ship. you were confused but then realized what was happening when the familiar sound of a tracking fob reached your ears. you scurried into the hull of the crest and put bean in his pod before closing it back up. you jumped at the sound of blaster shots and grunts and, against your better judgment, crept towards the opening of the crest. you watched in amazement as Din fought off 3 bounty hunters, punching and shooting and eventually killing all three of them. your eyes were wide as you watched him duck punches and deflect blaster shots. the whole thing was over in a matter of minutes. Din took a final look around before holstering his blaster and making his way to the ship. you quickly ran to where bean was and acted like you'd been playing with him all along. you heard Din's foot steps ascend the latter and the starting of the engines. you sighed thinking you were safe and looked down at green bean in your lap.  
"if anyone asks, i was with you the whole time, alright? do you understand green bean?"  
he looks up at you and coos, and you take that as a yes. you sigh and smile at him walking over the door and then right into a wall. you stumble back only to be caught by a pair of arms around your waist.  
"jeez when did he put a wall there"  
wait...walls don't have arms  
you quickly look up to see that in fact, it was not a wall but your best mandalorian friend Din Djarin.  
"hey Din! we were just coming to see you because we stayed in that room the entire time, the both of us stayed right in here, you can even ask green bean isn't that right bean?"  
he blinks up at you and makes a little sound.  
"see he said yes."  
Din just tilts his head and stares down at you. man he's tall. you only realize your blocking the doorway to his room after a few moments of staring at him like some dazed idiot  
"right sorry, um we will be in the cock pit while you do... whatever it is that Mandalorians do."  
you pat his shoulder as you walk away but pause when you hear a hiss come out from his helmet you pause.  
"Din?"  
when he doesn't do anything you walk over to him and take a closer look at his shoulder only to see that it's bleeding.  
"Din! your shoulder! why didn't you say anything? here i'll help you wrap it and everything"  
"it's fine" his modulated voice sounding strained. you look up at him with an arched brow.  
"Din, you're bleeding. you are not fine"  
he stares at you for a few moments, or maybe he's not, but you swear you can feel his piercing gaze whenever his helmet is facing in your direction.  
"it's nothing"  
you roll your eyes and tap his armored shoulder again. you look up at him with annoyance when a grunt comes from the helmet.  
"i'm wrapping this for you. no back talk from you this time Djarin" you point your finger at him while he shakes his head, but follows you into the room nonetheless. you smile in victory and quickly grab the medpack only to realize you have no clue where it is.  
"uhm so where is that medpack anyways"  
you give him a sheepish smile while he points with his good arm to a cabinet above you. you go to open it and find that it's on the top shelf. of course. you don't want din to have to get up with him being injured and all, so you get on your tippy toes and reach for the medpack, but find your a few inches short. you furrow your brows at it and strain even more.  
"come on" you mumble under your breath. then as if you said the magic words, the med pack starts to move and flys into your hand. you stare at it wide eyed, confused as to what just happened. you quickly turn to see if Din had seen what had occurred, but he was occupied with his armor on his injured shoulder. you take a deep breath and tell yourself it was just because the crest had tilted while exiting the atmosphere before walking back to din.  
"ok you got your pauldron off. good. let's see..."  
you feel Din's burning stare as you work to clean his shoulder. he hisses a couple times as you do so and each time you apologize. you go to apply a bacta strip since that's all you have, but then realize it might become loose under his armor and his constant shifting.  
"i need to wrap up your shoulder. is that ok?"  
he nods at you and you start to fumble with his chest piece. his hands quickly cover yours and you can't stop your face from heating up. you can't bring your self to look up at him as you speak.  
"um- i need to take your shirt off if i'm going to wrap in properly."  
your voice came out squeaky and rushed. jeez you felt like a teenager all over again. he pushes your hands away and slowly takes off the armor on his upper body until only his black undershirt is left. he tried to lift it up but hisses when it pulls at his shoulder painfully.  
"let me" it comes out barely louder than a whisper. you gently grab the shirt and pull it up, wincing when he has to lift his arm up and grunts again.  
"sorry sorry"  
you leave it halfway on, just enough that his left arm and 3 quarters of his torso is now exposed. you realize now that maybe this isn't allowed and quickly snap your eyes from his toned muscles and abs that you totally weren't staring at to the T shape of his visor where you think his eyes are.  
"this is ok right? with your code and everything?"  
he nods and you relax and swiftly grab the bacta patch and some gauze to keep it in place. your hands meet his heated skin and it sends a tingly shiver throughout your body.  
"are you cold?"  
you look up like a deer in headlights  
"i- uhm no no i'm fine just.. fine"  
you avert your eyes and continue working at his shoulder while his stare makes your face burn up even more. when you finish your hands and eyes linger on his bare chest for a bit too long, and you hope he didn't notice. you quickly step away from him and grab the bag of supplies you'd bought earlier at the store.  
"i'm going to go restock the rations and all that stuff. uh let me know if you need anything else with your shoulder thingy. i assume you know how long to leave it on?"  
he nods again  
"right ok"  
you awkwardly leave the room and sigh against the wall once the door shuts behind you.

~•~•~  
"so what's the plan now Din?"  
it was a couple hours later and everyone had eaten dinner. you and green bean together, and Din alone in the cockpit.  
"i'm looking for a planet to lay low on. you should go get some sleep. i'll let you know if i find anything."  
you nod your head and take green bean with you, but stop before you walk out.  
"good night Din" you say softly and are surprised when he says it back.  
"good night y/n"  
you smile at hearing him say your name and climb down the latter to your little makeshift room. you sit with bean and hold him in your arms while rocking him and singing a lullaby that your mom used to sing to you. when he finally falls asleep you place him in his tiny pod, shower, and change into your PJ's which is really just an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts. while folding your day clothes(that were filled with sand), something glints in your peripheral vision. you turn to see the same necklace you had looked at in the store earlier. your smile almost hurts your cheeks and you know your blushing yet again, which seems to be a trend with this Mandalorian. you admire the necklace before clasping it around your neck and falling into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Change

2 weeks later, Din finds a planet for the three of you to stay at. you were sewing a hole that you found in one of your tunics, so you didn't glance up at the planet you were approaching.  
"let's see, Sorgan. No Starports or industrial centers. looks like a real backwater skughole, which means it's perfect for us. You ready to lay low and stretch your legs you little womp rat? No ones gonna find us here."  
Bean coos up at him and you smile at the two, so similar to a father and son.  
"I do hope you were referring to green bean?"  
A strange noise comes from the helmet and you realize it was a laugh, or at least the most you can get from a mandalorian. The thought that you made Din laugh sets a warm feeling in your chest that you can't seem to shake. The two of you had grown closer these past two weeks. He opened up about why he hadn't heard his name in so long. You knew what it was like to lose a parent, so you can't imagine losing both of them at such a young age. You also told him about your mother's death, and why you stayed on Nevarro as a street vendor your whole life. You smile down at your necklace that Din had gotten for you, the circular design with what resembled a fancy star in the middle glinting in the sun. You glance up at the windows and let out a gasp. 

Green. It's green. So much green. You stand from your seat and press against the window wanting to get a better view. It's gorgeous, the whole planet is a mix of vivacious greens, warm browns and a dot of muted blues here and there. You don't look away even as the crest lands. Only when Din sets bean down and tells him something do you turn back.  
"- you stay. Don't move. i'll find us some lodging, and i'll come back for you. both of you"  
He says while looking up at you. you pout at him and cross your arms.  
"so your going to bring me to the most beautiful planet I've ever seen and then make me stay on the ship?"  
Din let's out a sigh and straightens up.  
"I'll be back soon alright?"  
you don't answer and instead turn back to the window. when the door closes behind him you turn and pick up bean  
"he's not getting away this is he green bean? nuh uh"  
you make your way down the latter and next to Din, thankful that the hissing of the ramp covered your foot steps. You smile up at Din while he sighs yet again.  
"oh what the hell. c'mon"  
you pump your fist in victory and then practically run down the ramp to take a deep breath, turning around in a full circle to take in all thats around you.  
"The air is so fresh here. Din, this is amazing!"  
green bean coos in your arms and you rub his head.  
"I think green bean agrees with me. and you wanna know the best thing?"  
Din looks over at you while you start to walk with him.  
"Theres no sand! gosh I think there's still sand in my clothes from that last planet we went to. and I thought that place was amazing. it's almost nothing compared to this"  
Din stays quiet for a while, and the silence is comfortable. You're perfectly content with looking at all the foliage and little animals that scurry around. Eventually you come up to a little clearing with huts scattered about. Din walks into the biggest one, and you follow along still in awe of the scene around you. Din finds a table and you both take a seat across from each other, green bean sitting in a chair between you both. A lady soon comes to the table and you figure she's a waitress.  
"Welcome travelers, what can I get for ya?"  
"a bone broth, for the little one, and..."  
Din looks at you and you shake your head  
"I'm fine thank-"  
The grumbling of your stomach is what cuts you off this time and your cheeks heat up.  
"two bone broths."  
The lady sends you a kind smile which eases a bit of your embarrassment.  
"well you're in luck, I just took down a gringer so there's plenty. can I interest you in a porridge or a broth aswell?  
The lady turns to Din, but you already know what the answer will be.  
"Just the two. That one over there"  
Din motions to a lady you hadn't even noticed.  
"when did she arrive?"  
The waitress thinks for a moment  
"I've seen her here for the last week or so"  
"What's her business here?"  
you're confused at Dins sudden interest, not quite sure what about her caught his attention. She seems to have noticed your presence as well, though she looks away when the three of you turn your heads.  
"Business? there's not much business on sorgan, but she-"  
Din throws down a couple credits, in what you assume is a way to gain information.  
"-doesn't strike me as a log runner. Why thank you sir! I'll get those bone broths right out to you and, I'll throw in a flagon of spotchka, just for good measure."  
you laugh at his annoyed expression (well, the most a mandalorian helmet can look annoyed) but quickly stop when he stands up and starts to walk from the table.  
"stay here."  
You watch him exit and turn back around as the lady comes back and hands you each your bowls of broth.  
"thank you"  
She nods and smiles  
"you guys are a cute family, it's nice to have visitors like you around here."  
your cheeks heat up and you hear green bean coo.  
"I- we're not- he doesn't- um we're just... friends"  
"Oh I'm sorry! You guys just seemed so much like a family"  
You smile at her to assure her it's fine.  
"It's no big deal, don't worry about it"  
she nods before walking away. You sigh and look at green bean only to find he's not there.  
"bean?!"  
you turn and see him walking out the front entrance. You go to stop him but end up walking with him when you hear grunts and clangs around the corner.  
"let's go see what trouble your dad got into this time hmm?"  
You turn the corner to find Din and the woman from before laying on the ground with blasters pointed at each other. After a particularly loud slurp from bean, Din looks over at you two.  
"I thought I told you to stay put?"  
you shrug  
"yeah, but watching her kick your ass seemed more fun"  
The woman let's out a snort at that and gets up, holstering her blaster. Din follows suit mumbling something under his breath.  
"Cara Dune" The lady introduces herself with a smile while extending her hand. You take it and tell her your name in reply. You pick up green bean and the four of you walk back into the hut. After some talking you find out Cara was a rebel shock trooper, but retired after the war ended.  
"well this has been a real treat, but unless you wanna go another round, one of us gonna have to leave and, I was here first."  
You smile at her.  
"It was nice meeting you Cara"  
she smiles and nods in return before leaving. Din turns to you and the kid.  
"well, Looks like this planet's taken."  
You sigh and nod your head, realizing that you're going to have to leave this beautiful place behind. You wave to the waitress as you leave and make sure to etch every detail from this place into your memory.

~•~•~  
"I'm going to make a few quick repairs to the ship while we're down, and then we can head out."  
you nod and walk up the ramp.  
"i'll go put bean to sleep"  
Din shakes his head.  
"I still can't believe your calling him that"  
you gasp and put a hand over your heart in mock hurt.  
"You don't like his name? The one that I chose for him? I can't believe this."  
Din tilts his head at your theatrics.  
"who names a child green bean?"  
you furrow your brows at him.  
"well at least I had enough decency to actually give him a name. some father you are"  
Din shakes his head once more but you have a feeling he's smiling a tiny bit under that helmet.  
"alright, go put...green bean to bed"  
you smile and continue your way into the crest, quickly locating green bean and picking him up.  
"alright bean, it's time for bed."  
you start to rock him in your arms and sing the lullaby that he seems to like the best. He closes his eyes near the end and you set him in his pod carefully. You start towards the refresher, only to stop when you hear Din's voice. You walk from the room to see what's going on.  
"Where do you live?"  
you look past Din so see two men dressed in browns and blues with distressed expressions on their faces.  
"on a farm, weren't you listening? we're farmers."  
oh boy. you can tell just by his tone that Din must've put up his cold attitude when talking to these people. You arch your brow at him but he doesn't acknowledge your presence.  
"You have lodging"  
The men's faces light up at this.  
"y-yes!"  
"good. come up and help"  
The men quickly do as they were told and you walk over to Din.  
"So uh.. what exactly are we doing?"  
"They have an issue with raiders. nothing crazy. I help them with the problem, we get a place to stay in return. I'm going to get Cara. You stay here with the kid. I'll be back soon."  
you nod at him and go to help the two men, but quickly turn back.  
"Mando?"  
He stops and turns in your direction.  
"um be safe. please"  
He looks at you and nods his head, before grabbing the credits and disappearing into the forest.  
~•~•~

"So we're running off a band of raiders for lunch money?"  
Din had successfully recruited Cara to join you on your journey/mission at this farm. Now the four of you were sitting on a hover cart, bean in your lap, and Din to your left, Cara was sat across from you three. Din had explained the situation to Cara, hence her sarcastic comment.  
"They're quartering us in the middle of nowhere, last I checked that's a pretty square deal for someone in your position."  
You tune out of the conversation, and instead tilt your head up slightly to watch the stars. Somehow the view of them here seemed prettier than on Nevarro, clearer. You lean back to ease the strain on your neck, and eventually close your eyes. Your on the cusp of sleep when Caras voice rings through the air once more.

"so, what's the deal with you two?"  
Din turns his head from the sleeping woman next to him to the one in front.  
"what do you mean?"  
Din watches as Cara raises a knowing brow at him.  
"I mean, it's obvious you two have some sort of bond. Anyone can see it. Do you care for her?"  
Din stays still. To be honest, he has tried to push the thoughts and feelings about his newest crew mate to the back of his head. He does care for her, but it could never work. He knows this and knows that you would never fall for someone like him anyways. someone who can't even show you their face.  
"As a crew mate? she is.. very helpful with bean and helping out around the Crest. she's a friend."  
Cara raises both her eyebrows and shakes her head while she shifts to a more comfortable position.  
"bean?"  
Damnit.  
"uh.. she gave the kid a name or something."  
She smirks at that.  
"mhm. Whatever you say Mando"  
He looks back over the sleeping girl next to him and sighs, pushing some hair out of her face, He leans back to rest for a while before they reach the farm.

~•~•~

You wake up tucked under Din's arm, your cheek on his breast plate. You remember what he had said last night and quickly jump away from him, fixing your hair and tunic and Beans little coat.  
"Morning"  
You look up to see cara with a smug smile on her face, and you realize she must've seen the position you woke up in. your cheeks tint pink at the thought.  
"good morning"  
you smile warmly at her before occupying yourself with bean.  
"did you sleep well? you looked pretty comfy"  
you feel your face heat even more at this.  
"I- uh- yes I slept perfectly fine. you?"  
"yeah I slept ok, but unfortunately for me there's no beskar covered pillow for me to sleep on-"  
You quickly cut her off, not wanting to Din to wake up and hear her, thought unbeknownst to you, he's been awake the entire time.  
"Oh look at that we're coming up on the farm."  
And only a minute later the hover cart stops, shaking Din from his sleep.  
"morning sleeping beauty"  
You snort at Cara's remark as Din shakes his head.  
"Good morning" you also say to him with a smile. Din tilts his head towards you and nods in his own greeting. You turn to see Kids running up to the cart, many gathered around bean. Cara seems to notice this aswell.  
"Looks like they're happy to see us"  
You would say something, but you had already moved on from the group of kids to the village, and were entranced by it. luckily Din says something in return.  
"looks like."  
You realize Din and Cara are moving off the cart and quickly follow suit, knowing you can tour the farm later. You pick up bean and are swarmed by children, which occupies you while Din talks to a local farmer.  
"Excuse me. I need those two"  
Din points to you and the kid  
"in the same place as me."  
The man nods and walks off to fix the arrangements. You finally managed to shake the kids with some help from parents and walk over to Din and Cara. You set bean in one arm and grab a bag of supplies with the other, only to realize you have no idea where you're going.  
"uhm- Mando? Where exactly am I staying?"  
Din picks up a box and starts walking.  
"follow me."  
You nod and do as he says, coming to a good sized hut with two beds and a crib.  
"Oh is Cara staying with me?"  
You'd assumed Din would want bean close to him, but whatever he's comfortable with.  
"No, you're staying with me."  
you look up. with him?  
"With y-you? But Din your helmet. I know you don't sleep with that bucket on your head, and you need to eat. I can just go ask Cara if I can stay with her it's not big deal really-"  
Din walks closer to where you were currently rambling off.  
"y/n"  
You stop and look up at his visor.  
"I... asked them to put you with me. It's fine"  
Your eyes slightly widen at his confession. Why would he want you to be with him?  
"I- but- you-"  
He tilts his head at you and both stare at each other in silence for a while.  
"okay. I'll stay in here then"  
You smile up at him and go to place down bean and the bag you still had hanging from your shoulder. You miss the sigh of relief that comes from Din's helmet and you both continue to grab your supplies and place them accordingly.  
You'd just finished with the last of the clothing while Din was cleaning his rifle.  
"Knock Knock"  
You and Din both look up to see Omera, she had helped you get blankets and had set up the room. You smile at her  
"come in"  
She smiles back and walks in with a tray of food.  
"I brought you some food, I noticed you two didn't eat out there. I'll leave it here for when I go."  
This time it's Din who speaks up.  
"Thank you, that's... very kind."  
She nods and turns back to you.  
"How are you settling in?"  
"It's amazing here. Thank you so much"  
She nods and you see Din has gone back to cleaning his rifle.  
"Of course"  
suddenly a creak sounds from the opening of the barn and Din whips around with his gun out, you step to him at the same time and grab his arm. a little girl is in the door way, now in Omeras arms.  
"This is my daughter Winta, we don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers."  
You keep your hold on Dins arm and turn to the young girl. You give her a warm smile.  
"Hi Winta. I'm y/n. You'll have to excuse my friend over here, He's not used to strangers either."  
She smiles at that and you feel din put his blaster away. Omera directs her next words to her daughter.  
"This nice man is going to help protect us from the bad ones."  
Wintas grip slightly loosens on her mom.  
"Thank you"  
Din nods and bean coos effectively drawing Wintas attention. She walks over to him and crouches down, petting his little head.  
"Can I feed him?"  
You look to Din and he nods.  
"sure."  
She giggles at beans eating.  
"Can I play with him?"  
You look to Din again to see him hesitate. You walk over to him.  
"I can go out with them to keep an eye, and you can eat. okay?"  
He nods and you smile.  
"Yes Winta, we can go play with him."  
She sets him down from his crib, and the three of you walk out the front entrance.  
Din watches as you play with all the children, looking happier than he's seen you in the couple weeks you've gotten to know each other.  
"can I ask you a question?"  
Din pulls his eyes from you to Omera.  
"Go ahead"  
"How long has it been since you took that thing off?"  
"Yesterday."  
She shakes her head.  
"I mean.. in front of someone else."  
Din turns back to where you're playing with all the children.  
"I wasn't much older than they are."  
He points and notices Omeras expression change to one of shock.  
"You haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?"  
Din slightly nods his head.  
"The Mandalorians took me in. I was grateful. They raised me in the fighting corps."  
She nods her head.  
"Let us know if there's anything you need."  
He nods his head and turns back to watch you, slipping off his helmet and thinking about Cara’s words. 

He was scared. He didn’t want to admit it. He had started to feel something towards you, and he had no idea what to do about it. No idea what to do about you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this was really a filler chapter so sorry if it’s a bit boring. I’ll try to get the next one up tonight!! Thank you all so much for reading this. I’m not sure if it’s any good as I’ve never really written anything like this before, so I’m kind of learning as I go:)


	4. I Don’t Like Mud Either

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this felt really rushed but I wanted to get it posted because school starts tomorrow, and with exams and sports coming up i’m not going to have as much time as I would like to write:( I might come back and redo it at a later date, but until then here is some fluff and angst all rolled up and thrown into a garbage can.

The next morning Din and Cara go to scope out the raiders camp.   
"I'll be back soon. probably in an hour or so."  
You nod at him and push him out the door.  
"Yeah yeah. now come on, Cara's probably waiting on you."  
Sure enough when you exited the hut, Cara was right out front.   
"You finally ready mando?"  
He nods his head and the two walk off into the woods. You sigh down at green bean.  
"What am I going to do with him"  
He makes a cute sound and the two of you walk out of the hut. You walk over to the krill ponds first. You had wanted to see everything here up close and decided to start with them. There wasn't much free standing water like this on Nevarro, and the pictures you'd seen growing up didn't do them justice. The rippling of the water had a certain calming essence, and you decided that you could watch the krill swim around all day. An impatient noise sounded from your arms and you sighed down at bean. okay, so maybe not all day.  
"alright alright, let's go tooo... how about the forest? would you like that?"  
Green bean smiles and coos at you and you take that as a yes, turning from the ponds and walking over to the trees. You'd seen the forest plenty yesterday sure, but you felt at peace there. A certain energy buzzed about in the forest, all the life surrounding you feeling connected to it somehow. You also felt connected to it, and bean seemed to feel something similar.   
"you feel that green bean?"  
He coo'ed once more and you followed the feeling, a tug in your gut pulling you around the woods until it suddenly stopped.   
"what in the-"  
You stared at the large tree in front of you, the sun shining down to make it appear glowing. you walked up to the tree and ran your hand on the bark. suddenly images flew inside your mind, and a voice you weren't familiar with spoke.   
"Y/n, danger lurks. you must protect the child. something far more sinister than you realize is coming. you must prepare. open yourself to the force, the light, but beware of the darkness, for it is tempting and sinful. you must find your balance."  
more images you didn't recognize flashed through your mind. Blue lightning, red and blue hues, sounds of fighting, guns. ships flying about, men in masks, stormtroopers, a regal building, two men in robes fighting on a volcanic planet. The images abrubtly stoped and you stumbled back.  
"these are your first steps." a voice whispered.   
"ummm bean? did you.. see that?"  
bean just smiles up at you and laughs. You take a few deep breaths to calm yourself.   
"I must be going crazy right? there's no way a tree just spoke to me."  
You get up and dust yourself off, quickly making your way back to the farm and trying to calm your racing thoughts.

You were still shaken up from the incident that happened a few minutes ago. You still didn't know if it really happened. and what was the force? more importantly, who was speaking to you. The darkness? And the images. The one you couldn't shake was a book with a symbol similar to the one around your neck. What does it mean? You were snapped out of your thoughts when you felt a hand shaking your shoulder.  
"y/n??"  
you look up to see Din, his voice sounding concerned.  
"hmm? what's wrong?"  
Din stopped shaking you but kept him hand on your arm.  
"Are you ok? You seemed a bit out of it."  
"Oh! y-yes I'm fine, just got lost in my thoughts again, you know me."  
He gives you a quick nod and then stands up.   
"c'mon, we're going to talk to the villagers. We have some... bad news."  
You quickly turn to look at Din, worried he might've been hurt.  
"What?! are you ok?"  
You quickly scan over his body but don't notice any injuries.   
"yes cyar'ika I'm fine"   
Your scattered brain doesn't catch what Din calls you, and he's thankful that you seemed to have been to preoccupied with his health to notice. You walk to where Cara and the rest of the villagers are, who seem nervous and restless. Din walks up to the platform while you stand at the back near Cara.   
"Bad news. You can't live here anymore"  
The crowd immediately breaks out into yelling, while you and Cara both look at Din.   
"Nice bedside manner."  
she says at the same time you roll your eyes.   
"Think you can do better?"  
You stare at him like he's crazy.  
"um.. you can't really do much worse"  
Din tilts his head at you for that. (his favorite thing to do apparently) while cara steps up to speak.   
"I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options."  
the crowd gets louder at this.   
"You took the job!" one of them yells.  
"That was before we knew about the ATST"  
Your eyes widen. Holy shit. you'd heard about ATST's in stories your mom would tell you about the empire. They were giant, and almost impossible to destroy. The villagers seem confused at what Cara is talking about, so she elaborates.  
"The giant armored walker with two enormous guns that you knew about but didn't tell us."   
The farmers still continue to protest.   
"We can't leave this place!"   
one yells  
"sure you can. this is a big planet, i've seen much smaller. Listen, you cannot fight that thing. It can take out entire companies of soldiers in a matter of minutes."   
Caras voice turns pained and you know she's talking from experience.   
"there's only two of us here and-"  
Cara is cut off by the farmers.   
"No there's not there's at least 20 of us here."  
Cara starts to get frustrated, and you can see Din is tense.   
"I mean fighters, be realistic."  
"We can learn. We can!"  
You walk over to Din. You have to do something.   
"Din, we have to help them."  
He looks at you for a moment.   
"Cara is right. there's only two-"  
You shake your head at him and take a step closer.   
"Din, they can learn. You and Cara are both skilled enough to teach them. We took this job, and now we need to finish it."  
Din just stares at you while Cara and the farmers continue back and forth.   
"You cannot fight that thing!"  
at this Din steps up.   
"Unless we show them how"  
You smile at him and mouth a thank you. he simply nods his head. 

~•~•~   
"Ok, You've got two problems here. The raiders and the mech. We need to build a barrier around the town that's high enough to give us cover, and thick enough to stay together. Cara Dune here fought in the rebellion, Shes seen this thing first hand."  
At this Cara takes over.  
"there's nothing on this planet that can damage the legs on that thing, so we're going to have to dig a trench real deep, so when it steps, it drops. Alright, who knows how to shoot?"  
all the farmers keep their hands by their sides except for one. Omera. You hear Din and Cara sigh before sending everyone to start working on the barrier. You quickly run up to Din once everyone has left.  
"Teach me how to fight."  
Din looks at you.  
"What?"  
"teach me how to fight. y'know, punching shooting all that stuff."  
Din shakes his head.  
"No."  
"What? why not? I need to be able to protect myself Din." but you also felt useless and weak. you hated it.   
"I will protect you."  
you cross your arms and let out an annoyed huff.  
"what about when you're not there?"  
"i'll always be there. I won't let anyone hurt you. ever."  
Your cheeks heat up at his words, but you're not going to let him sweet talk you out of this.   
"I feel so useless and weak" you mumble.   
"what was that?"  
you look back up at his visor and shake your head.  
"It's nothing"  
You turn to walk away, planning to ask Cara when he grabs your wrist and brings you back to him. you refuse to look at him and instead stare down at his boots.  
"Look at me."  
When you still keep your head down he puts a finger under your chin and lifts up your head.  
"tell me what's wrong."  
you stare at his visor for a little bit longer before taking a deep breath.  
"I just- I feel so weak a-and useless all the time, and I hate it. Like on that sand planet, if I had known how to fight then you wouldn't have gotten that cut on your arm. I just- I want to be helpful Din, to you and these farmers."  
Din again does his infamous head tilt, yet his voice comes out soft, even with the modulator.   
"cyar'ika, you're not useless. You help out so much. With green bean, and the ship, and with my injuries."  
you shake your head still and decide to ignore whatever he said for the time being, too focused on convincing him to let you fight.  
"No Din that's not what I mean. I want to help you fight, to help you protect green bean, to be able to hold my own. And I know you can protect me. I trust you, with my life, but I also want to be able to trust myself."  
By now, Dins hand had dropped from your chin, and he stood still, staring at you. it was unnerving sometimes, how still he could be. He was almost like a droid, and if it wasn't for patching him up a couple weeks ago, you might've thought he was. The two of you continued to stand in silence for a while, him still and you fidgeting with your hands.   
"Alright."  
You jump up and smile at him.  
"you will?"  
He nods in response and you jump and hug him. He tenses and you go to pull away, but then his arms circle around your waist and pull you back to him.   
"I'm in charge of shooting, and Cara is teaching close combat. I want to do a one on one lessons in the evenings though, alright?"   
you pull back slightly to look up at him, a smile still present on your face.   
"yes! yes that's great. Thank you Din, really."  
you give him one last squeeze before running off to tell Cara.  
Din shakes his head, trying also to shake the warm feeling he gets whenever your around, but each time that becomes harder and harder to do.  
~•~•~

You start at Cara’s station first, working with wooden staffs. She was impressed that you were able to sway Din into letting you fight, you just shrugged it off. it wouldn’t have been any different with anyone else. He’d said it himself, you were just a friend. You push those thoughts away and work on the drills Cara had set up for the group. Step, pull back, stab. You made sure to use your body in the movement, keeping your arms close and pushing straight out to gain as much power as you could. Cara nodded at your work and continued down the line, stopping longer on some than others. You were sweating by the time it was over, but your felt amazing. Cara commented on your skill.  
“You’re a quick learner. I think Mando will he surprised.”  
You smile and thank her before going to grab some water. Din had also finished his first group and met you in the barn.  
“hey, how were they?”  
You still were breathing a bit heavy, and hoped Din hadn’t noticed. Unfortunately for you, Din notices everything.   
“Need some work, but we’ll get there. How about you? Cara work you too hard?”  
You glare at Din with your arms crossed.   
“No, it was just fine. I feel great actually. She even complemented me on my skills.”  
Your tone came out a little more snippy than you would’ve liked, but you kept your mouth shut, walking past Din out of the barn.  
“let’s go old man, I believe we have a shooting lesson to be at?”  
You smile at him while he sighs and follows behind you, shaking his head.  
“I’m not old.”   
He mumbles, but you still catch it anyways. you laugh at his childish reaction. Soon your coming up to the shooting range. Others are already scattered about and you all quickly line up behind your designated targets. Din hands out different types of guns to each person, handing you a small blaster.   
“Alright, I want you all to aim at your targets, try to hit them the best you can. I’ll be going around critiquing where I see fit.”  
At this, People start shouting, some hitting the targets, and some not. You lift up your own blaster and after checking the safety is off, aim at the pan. 

You miss, by a lot, but continue you watch the angle, moving your hand accordingly each time. By the time Din reaches your spot, you are closer to the target.   
“I uhm, think there’s something wrong with this blaster.”  
Din walks up behind you, close enough to where you feel his beskar covered check against your back. Din wraps his arms around yours and fixes your grip on the blaster, using his foot to slide yours into a different position.   
“now try.”  
You take a deep breath and close your eyes, trying to block out the feeling of Din pressed against you.   
“focus y/n. clear your mind.”  
It your mother’s voice you hear this time. A memory of the time she tried to teach you to shoot a blaster. You do exactly that and then open your eyes, shooting the blaster once at each pan, hitting dead center on every one.  
“Holy shit.”  
You can feel Din’s burning stare on the back of your head and slowly turn to face him.   
“Like that?”  
Din only nods.  
“Keep practicing.”  
You nod and salute him.  
“yessir”  
He gives you a look that says ‘really?’ before turning back down the line. You continue firing at your target, doing exactly what your mom had told you. You hit it almost every time.

~•~•~  
You continued this pattern for about a week and a half, along with Dins nightly training sessions. You found you were good at staff work, though your combat outside of that needed a little work, you felt the strongest you’d ever been. Tonight was the night of the battle. You’d been anxious all day worried for everyone’s safety, especially Din’s. Like you had summoned him, Din walks out of the hut up to you bean and Cara.  
“We’ll be heading out soon, and when we return we’re coming in hot.”  
You nod at him. Him and Cara turn to leave but you quickly grab his hand.  
“D- Mando. Be careful.”  
He gives your hand a squeeze, letting go a second later and disappearing into the woods with Cara. You quickly turn to bring Bean over to where the other children are. Winta takes him and sets her in his lap.   
“You be good bean, ok? I’ll be back to get you in no time.”   
He coos while you gently rub his ear and run out to take your spot, pulling out your blaster while a staff stands next to you. You take a few deep breaths and close your eyes, once again clearing your mind. Loud rumbles and the cracking of branches causes you to open you eyes, Din and Cara appearing from the trees. They quickly slide down into the pit that’s besides you.   
“Alright this is it. when it steps into that ditch it’s going down!”  
You watch as the giant machine breaks through the trees, walking closer and closer to the pond. It gets right up to the edge and then... It stops.  
A bright light suddenly emits from the ATST and you hear Din and Cara whisper-yelling.   
“get down!”  
You quickly duck and watch as others follow suit, only two farmers seem frozen in fear. The light stops on them and a blast comes from the ATST, hitting the huts behind them the same time the raiders emerge from the woods.   
“Open fire!”  
You and the others with guns all start firing, but with the groups semi-average aim, and only a certain number having guns, you know that you need more help. Omera seems to notice as well, and urges those with staffs to get onto the battle field.   
“This is it, it’s now or never!”   
You pause your shooting and make a split second decision to holster your blaster and grab your staff instead. You quickly run from behind the barrier, ignoring the modulated voice calling your name. 

You run to the closest farmer who seems to be struggling, sneaking up on the raiders from behind and knocking him accepts the head, rendering him unconscious. The woman thanks you and you nod before running to the next raider. You dodge bullets, but aren’t as lucky with punches. A raider gets you on the jaw, making you see stars. He goes for his blaster but you gain a burst of energy, maneuvering your staff to swipe his arm away from body as you turn and spin your staff around with you, stabbing him with the end as you come around. You stare at his widened, lifeless eyes as he falls to the ground in seemingly slow motion. An explosion goes off somewhere, and you hear cheering erupt from the farmers. we won you think, but you can’t pull your eyes from the body in front of you. You drop your staff from your shaking hands and fall to your knees. You just killed someone. What if he had a family? A child? and you took someone’s father? someone’s husband? someone’s friend?  
You don’t realize that you’re crying until Din is turning you away from the body and wiping your cheeks with his thumbs.  
“D-Din?”  
Your voice breaks slightly. Din pulls you into his chest, circling one arm around your back and using his other hand to stroke your hair.  
“shh. I know cyar’ika. It’s ok. I have you.”  
You wrap your arms around him and bury your face into his neck, but jump back when you remember the shot from earlier.  
“B- Bean is he-”   
Din pulls you back into him.   
“Bean is fine, Omera is with the kids.”  
You nod your head and sink into him for a few minutes more. When you finally slow your breathing and racing thoughts, you realize your legs feel damp, and look down to see your covered in mud.   
“Hey Din?”  
He hums in reply, now rubbing your back.  
“I don’t like mud.”

~•~•~  
You, Bean and Din were sitting by the fire, being that last ones out after the others had gone to sleep. Bean had also fallen asleep in your arms, and now you and Din sat together in a comfortable silence. Surprisingly, Din is the one to break it.  
“How’s your jaw?”  
Din was not too happy to find a bruise on your jaw the morning after the battle. You insisted it was nothing, but had also managed to use it to your advantage in convincing Din to continue your nightly training sessions.   
“It’s feeling better, just a little tender but nothing I can’t handle.”  
Din nods and you turn back to stare at the fire. You think about that day in the woods, and decide to ask Din about it.   
“Hey Din, when you were in the woods at any time, did you happen notice a weird tree or feel any, um, weird feelings?”  
Wow, that sounded stupid.   
“No, why what happened?”  
You keep your eyes on the flames, debating wether you should tell him the truth or not. You don’t want him to think your crazy, but you don’t want to lie either. Your hand absentmindedly plays with the necklace that matched the book of your vision.   
“Well, I don’t- ugh this is going to sound crazy, but do you remember when you cut your shoulder? and I had went to grab the medpack?  
Well it was on the top shelf, and I’m not that tall if you haven’t already noticed. Anyways I couldn’t reach it even on my tippy toes, and then somehow it flew into my hand. And then on our second day here, when you went to scout out the camp? I also went into the woods with bean, just a different part. There was this... energy? And it was pulling me somewhere, so I followed it to this huge tree. uhm and then uh- wow this sounds insane, uh well y’know I kinda ran my hand on the bark and then all these images started flashing though my head, a-and a v-voice spoke to me. One of the images had a book in it, with the same symbol as my necklace. It was over as soon as it started, and that’s why I was so out of it when you came back. I had no idea what was going on. I still don’t.”  
Your eyes never once left the flames, you were afraid to look at Din. He was silent for a few minutes and you thought this was it. He thinks your insane doesn’t he. He’s gonna throw you out.  
“The kid.”  
His voice snaps you from your minor panic.  
“He did something similar. When I first found him, he was a bounty. The planet I had landed on had jawas. They found my ship and stripped it. I managed to strike a deal with them by the help of an ugnaught I’d encountered earlier. They would give me the parts back if I got them the egg of a mud horn. It was, not an easy task. I thought I was going to die, but then, as it started to approach me for the kill, it stopped, lifted up into mid air. Bean had his hand up, he was the only possible reason for that. he slept for days after that. I still don’t understand how he did it.”  
You look down at bean in your arms and smile at his sleeping form.   
“so you don’t think i’m insane?”  
“No, I think you’re like bean”  
you let out a breath and finally look up to find him already staring at you.   
“Din? Thank you. For everything. For, taking me in when you could’ve easily shot me down. For taking care of me, and for letting me take care of you. For teaching me how to fight, and bringing me to the stars, and for believing in me. I- just thank you for helping make one of my dreams come true.”  
Din stays silent for a long time after this as well, and your worried that you might’ve gone too far, but he once again surprises you.   
“one? how many do you have”  
you lightly laugh at that.  
“well lots of little ones, but two main ones that i’ve always had, for as long as I can remember really. You helped me fulfill one of them. I always wanted to see the galaxy, to get away from Nevarro. And last I checked, we are quite far away from Nevarro.”  
Din does his infamous head tilt.  
“What’s the other one?”  
your cheeks heat up a bit at having to confess this one.  
“I-It’s stupid really, but I always dreamed of meeting my soulmate. Finding someone who would love me for all I am, and who would stick by me no matter what. I want to feel like I belong somewhere, with someone, you know? It’s childish really now that I think about it.”  
Din shakes his head.  
“I don’t think so.”  
You give him a little smile.   
“What about you, what’re your dreams?”  
“Mine?”  
“Yeah. what do you want the most in the whole galaxy.”  
Din has to think for a while. You give him time, not rushing him into answering. You figure that his life was lonely before you and bean, at least, you’d never seen him with anyone other than bounties covered in carbonite.   
“I- I think I would want to fit in too. To be able to find someone who I can be myself with.”  
You look at Din with sympathy, but also with empathy. Having been bullied over the years, you learned to change your personality to please those around you.   
“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for soon”  
You turn your head back down to look at bean, not being able to handle being under Din’s heated gaze.   
“You too, y/n”  
The words come out soft and sincere, making you blush for what you think is the hundredth time since you met Din.

~•~•~

You spent the next month on Sorgan, your love for the planet continuing to grow. You and Din had also grown closer, but you had a feeling that things wouldn’t stay so perfect for long.   
Din was sitting with Cara at the front of his hut, watching as you played with bean and the rest of the children. Cara sat besides him, giving him a smug look when she saw where his visor was pointed.   
“So what happens when you take that thing off? they come after you and kill you?”   
Din pulls his eyes from you to Cara, who was currently drinking spotchka while raising a brow at him.   
“No, you just can’t ever put it back on again.”  
Her expression seems unimpressed.  
“So that’s it? You can take off the helmet, settle down with y/n and raise your kid together sipping spotchka?”  
Din decides to ignore her comment and the feeling he got at the thought of settling down with you and bean.  
“Y’know, we raised hell a few weeks back. That’s a lot of action for a back water town lien this. We might wanna cycle the charts, move on.”  
Cara motions with her hand to where you and bean were currently sat.  
“wouldn’t wanna be the one who’s gotta tell them.”   
“I’m leaving them here. Traveling with me? Thats no life for a kid, or for her.”   
Cara takes another sip of her spotchka.  
“it’s gonna break their hearts, especially hers”  
“They get over it. We all do.”  
Din sees Cara make a face at this, but thankfully she stays quiet. He quickly gets up and walks over to were you and bean are still playing.   
“Excuse me, could I have a word?”   
You look up at his visor.  
“Of course.”  
You check to make sure green bean is safe before getting up and following Din to a quieter area. He’s the first one to speak.  
“ It’s very nice here.”   
You smile while glancing around you.  
“Yeah, it is.”  
Din seems to hesitate with his next few words.  
“It’s obvious you and the kid are, happy here.”   
You nod, but something seems off.  
“What about you?”  
Din appears taken aback at this.   
“me?”  
“Do you like it here?”  
Din looks around.   
“I don’t... fit in here, but you and the kid do.”  
Your smile has fallen by know and you furrow your brows at him.   
“Din... what are you saying?”  
He takes in a deep breath.  
“I’m saying, that I’m leaving. This planet is safe for you. both of you. You’re so happy on this planet, I don’t want to take that away from you. traveling with me? that’s no life for either of you, and... and you can fulfill your dream here y/n”  
You step back from Din and cross your arms.   
“Are you serious? Din I am not- we are not leaving you. why would you even say that?”  
“y/n, it’s for the best. I- I want you and the kid to be happy, and I can tell that you both are.”  
You shake you head and step back up to Din.   
“Don’t you see? You make m- us happy Din. You make us feel safe. Not sorgan. You.”   
Din doesn’t get to reply to you a blaster shot suddenly rings through the air. He quickly pulls out his blaster while pushing you behind him.   
“Go get the kid!”  
You rush over the where bean last was and relax when you see he’s okay.  
“Oh thank the maker. Bean you had me worried.”  
He coos up at you and you hug him tight. Din comes back along with Cara a few moments later.   
“What was it?”  
Din doesn’t reply and instead stomps to the barn. Thankfully Cara answers your question.  
“Bounty hunter. He had a phob on the kid.” You nod and look back to where Din had disappeared into the barn, deciding its best that you give him some space. You glance down once more at green bean in your arms.  
“well, looks like we’re leaving little guy.”  
He makes a sad noise and you rub his head.  
“I know, I don’t like it either, but we have to keep you safe. And maybe when we finally get rid of all these bounty hunters we can come back here, how does that sound?   
He coos in a happier tone and you bring him back over to the kids, throwing glances at the barn every once in a while. When you see Din later that night, He doesn’t say much, and the barn falls into an uncomfortable silence. You don’t get much sleep that night, and you have a feeling Din doesn’t either. 

The next morning Din speaks two words to you.   
“We’re leaving”  
You simply nod and begin to help packing up the barn. The whole village comes to see you off when you finish. Din walks up to Cara first.   
“Are you sure you don’t need an escort.”  
Din shakes his head slightly.  
“We’re gonna bypass the town, head straight to the Razor Crest.”  
Cara nods.  
“Well, until our paths cross.”  
The do a hand shake and you walk up to cara when they’re done.   
“Thank you Cara, for everything.”  
She smiles  
“Of course. Make sure you keep that one in check”  
You look to where she’s pointing at Din.  
“Oh I will, as long as he doesn’t throw me out of an airlock beforehand.”  
“Oh boy. what happened?”  
you shrug because really you have no idea.  
“I don’t know. I told him he wasn’t leaving us here and then after the bounty hunter thing he’s been basically pretending I don’t exist. It’s fine though, I’m sure he’ll cool down eventually”   
Cara nods.  
“Alright, just.. don’t let his cold attitude push you away. He cares for you y/n really.”  
You blush bright pink at that and quickly walk over to Omera and Winta.   
“Thank you for all that you’ve done for us”   
You direct at Omera.  
“And thank you for being such a great friend to bean.”  
you direct this at Winta and she smiles, coming up to give him one last hug.   
“I’m gonna miss you little guy”  
bean coos sadly back at her and eventually she lets go.Omera smiles at you and you nod, turning to get on the hover cart along with Din.   
You wave at the farmers until they’re nothing but dots on the horizon. You turn to talk to Din, but he looks asleep.   
“Din?”  
No reply. You sigh and move to a more comfortable position, on the opposite side of the hover cart from your sleeping Mandalorian.  
“Your dad is stressing me out Green Bean.”  
He makes a noise almost like he’s confused. you lay back and look at the stars, one hand wrapped around green bean, the other twirling your necklace, a habit you’ve made when your stressed.   
“What did I do green bean? Was I too forward? I should’ve known better.” He could never be interested in someone like you, you wanted to say. You sighed and snuggled up with green bean, nightmares plaguing your sleep. All of them with a certain Mandalorian leaving you behind.


	5. Not Even if I Tried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s 1:15 am for me when I’m posting/finishing this, so please ignore the million spelling and grammar mistakes that are probably in here. also I don’t know if this is fine or it’s better when I split the chapters into two parts, so lmk what you guys think. and thank you so much for your kind comments and kudos, I don’t think you guys understand how helpful those are, especially because I was having a rough week, so thank you guys so much. anyways please enjoy this run on of a chapter that is literally garbage

TW: slight sexual assault(I marked the area where it is so if you want just skip that part.)

It's been a week since you left Sorgan, and you've barely spoken to nor seen Din. You've basically been walking on eggshells around each other. You bring him up meals everyday, with no words exchanged between the two of you. You swear that every fleeting interaction, the tension between you two thickens, and you're nervous about what will happen when it snaps.

You were currently sitting with green bean on your lap, sewing him some shoes out of extra fabric you'd found in a cabinet on the Crest. I hope he didn't need this for anything important. Even if he did, you don't think he would've said anything about it, since y'know, he's avoiding you and all.

"At least he hasn't thrown me out into space." you mumble to yourself. You quickly finish sewing up the second shoe and hold them up for bean to see.

"What do you think bean? Do you like them?"

He gives an excited coo and grabs for one of the shoes. You hand it to him, only to watch him put it in his mouth.

"No! no no green bean. This goes on your feet silly! Not in your mouth."

You pry the shoe from his hand and place him on the cot next to you. You slip them on one at a time, being extra careful with his three toed feet.

"Okay. there. You wanna try to walk with them?"

Another coo which you take a yes. we need to start teaching him some words. You pick up bean and go to walk out of the room, only to come face to face with Din upon exiting. You both freeze and stare at eachother for a few uncomfortable moments. You realize then that you need to say something. You hate the way you feel without him, hate missing him. You hate losing sleep overthinking every interaction you had with each other on Sorgan, and you especially hate thinking about how he wanted to leave you there. Din takes a step to the side and you quickly follow suit before you can over think it. Instead of saying anything like you'd hoped, he simply tries to side step you again, and once more you counteract his movements. You furrow your brows while your eyes narrow.

"Din."

Suddenly your thrown off balance as an explosion rocks the ship. Din reaches out to grab you and once he sees your stable, bolts to the cockpit. so much for talking. You try to calm your racing heart while making your way there aswell. Your not sure if it's racing because someone is shooting at you, or because Din had his hands around your waist. Probably both. jeez you need to get out more.You almost lose your balance while climbing and quicken your pace, making it up to the pit and buckling yourself in the co-pilots seat.

"hand over the child Mando, and I might just let you live."

Another shot rocks the ship and you tighten your grip on bean, who doesn't seem to have a care in the world. children. Din presses a few buttons and turns his helmet slightly in your direction.

"Hold on."

You hate how much you missed his voice. You don't have time to dwell on that though, as he suddenly flips the crest over and around in random spins. Your grip on bean is probably suffocating at this point, but he thankfully doesn't seem bothered by it. The bounty hunter's voice comes through again.

"I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold mando"

You instantly sense him tensing up before the Crest abruptly stops, the bounty hunter's ship scratches against the top of the Crest as he flies right into Din's scope.

"that's my line."

His voice is dark as he presses a button the joysticks,effectively firing the Crest's guns and obliterating the ship in front of you. While you slightly relaxed after your victory, Din still seemed stressed as he toggled a few switches.

"we're losing fuel"

You don't say anything in reply, mostly because you gave no idea what you even would say.

well, he spoke twice today, so... progress?

Your vision goes dark accompanied by what sounds like the ship powering down, which is followed shortly thereafter by a giggle.

oh jeez.

the baby does not seem nearly as stressed as either you or Din, who is now up and fiddling with a panel near the back of the cock pit. After a few seconds, the power kicks back on, and you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You quickly remember the amount of jolts and stumbles you felt on your way up here, and know there's no way fuel is the only thing wrong with the ship. Din also appears to realize this, and starts easing the Crest in a different direction. A small orange blob appears a head of you and steadily grows larger until you can make out numerous swirls of varying shades that all look suspiciously similar in color to sand. Your suspicions are (unfortunately) proved right as Din begins his decent to the planet.

"This is Mos Eisley tower. We are tracking you. Head for bay 35 upon landing." A voice breaks though the silence. Din flicks another toggle on the dashboard.

"Copy that. Locked in for 35."

You hadn't noticed until now, but his voice had gone back to that same emotionless drone he had when you first came on with him. As weeks passed, he slowly started to let himself open up, his voice often allowing some of his emotion to seep through his beskar. But now it was like he had closed all his walls back up and reinforced them.

you really messed up huh?

The city you land in reminds you much of the planet you and Din had stopped at to restock. It was...nice looking, but it was all sand, and beige, and once you stepped out the ship, you found it was also hot. Extremely hot. You glance over to Din, who seemed unbothered by the heat, even with a million pounds of beskar on his body and wearing black underclothes. Bean had fallen asleep and been put in the compartment, and you debating going to hang out with him in there. A sound from your right alerted you to three pit droids popping up and making their way towards the ship. Din seemed to have also noticed them and, shot them, for some reason.

"Din!! Those are someone's droids!"

Sure enough, a voice yelled at Din not 2 seconds later.

"Hey!! You damage my droids? you'll pay for

then."

"Just keep them away from my ship."

Din continues down the ramp and you follow behind, throwing one more quick glance at the closed compartment door.

"Yeah? you think that's a good idea do ya? Let's take a look at your ship hmm?"

The frizzy haired lady walks up to the ship and inspects hit, knocking against the hull. You cringe when you hear a rattling noise come from inside.

"You got a fuel leak!"

You can tell Din is getting annoyed with this woman further and further. The woman then pulls out a scanner and points it to the top of the ship.

"You've got a lot of, Carbon scoring up top. Yeah. If I didn't know better I'd think you were in a shootout!"

Din responds with his oh so famous head tilt. You keep quiet, never finding a good point in the conversation (if you could even call it that) to butt in.

"This is a mess! how did you even land? That's gonna set you back"

You assume the lady had finished her inspection of the Crest, but you weren't sure how exactly Din planned on paying for the repairs.

"I've got 500 imperial credits."

Peli glances at Din, then turns to her pit droids.

"What do you guys think? that enough?"

each of the droids give a different signal, and your surprised to see one nodding after Din shot at them earlier.

"Well, that'll at least cover the hanger."

welp.

"I'll get you your money."

At this, you sharply turn your head to stare at Din, having once again, no idea how he's planning to do this.

"yeah yeah, I've heard that one before."

Din cuts her off

"Just remember"

But the woman does the same back. now he knows how it feels when he cuts me off.

"no droids. I remember. Don't have to say it twice."

Din nods his head at the lady, turning around and grabbing your arm to walk with him.

"I'm going into town to find a job. Stay here and watch the kid."

You nod up at him, still at a loss for words around him.

"I—be careful."

He nods again and turns to walk out of the bay. You sigh, shaking your head. You remember the other occupant in the bay and walk back over to meet her.

"Hi. I'm y/n."

You hold out your hand with a small smile held on your face. The lady returns the gesture, shaking your hand with a slight smile of her own.

"Peli. He doesn't talk much that one does he?"

She points to the door Din had just walked out of.

"No, not really. I'm sorry if we came off as rude earlier, he's been..."

What had he been recently? Moody? Quiet? Tense? These are words you would use to describe him normally.

"..He's been more stressed than usual lately. I apologize."

Peli waves it off.

"No worries. I'm not the one who has to live with him."

You giggle at that.

"Do you need help with anything? I haven't really worked on starships before, but I'm familiar with their components and a fast learner."

And it's true. When you were younger, you would study blueprints of starships and how they worked whenever you had spare time. Your goal was to build your own ship to fly you out of Nevarro, using spare parts you would find around the streets. Obviously, that never worked, and when your mom started getting older, you busied yourself more and more with sewing and baking etc, your 'starship' being left in the dust. Peli looked back over to the ship, then the door, then you.

"sure. yeah. I don't think you can mess this hunk of junk up any more than it is."

You also take a look at the Crest, realizing just how damaged it is. yeesh. how did we even survive? you cringe more and more as your eyes travel further over the hull.

"Yeah I'm gonna have to agree with you on that."

Peli let's out a breath through her nose and heads towards the back.

"Well c'mon, let's get you workin'."

Peli had given you the simplest tasks to work on, like tightening a bolt here, or soldering a wire there. You had just finished on one of the former when a noise came from the ship.

"What was that"

You quickly make your way to the ramp but pause when Peli calls out to you.

"y/n! wait! What if it's dangerous?"

You shrug your shoulders.

"It's not, and if it is, I know how to fight."sorta

Sure enough, you walk up the ramp to Green Bean climbing from the bed.

"Hey bean. Up from your nap so soon? Y'know, you scared the nice mechanic out there. me too for a moment."

You pick him up when he doesn't answer, walking back out to meet Peli, who's expression upon your exit changes from one of concern to confusion.

"What is that thing?"

You glance down at Bean who has now occupied himself with your necklace.

"I, actually have no idea."

Peli continues to stare at bean with a questioning look.

"Where did you get it?"

You think on this for a moment, not sure if you should disclose exactly how Din had acquired Bean.

"I'm not sure about that either. I only came on to help with Bean."

Peli seems even more confused at this.

"Bean?"

"Oh! Yeah well, I gave him a name. Green bean, because he's... green and tiny?"

okay, so maybe it wasn't the best name to pick for a child, but it's better than nothing.

"mhm well. back to work, the pit droids can baby sit... Bean."

"Mmm that might not be a good idea... why don't you take him?"

Peli appears appalled at this idea.

"Me? what do I look like, a babysitter?"

You give a warm smile at this, because she most certainly does not.

"No, but you'd only have to hold him really, and I could do the work on the ship, so technically it's like a break really."

Ah, always the negotiator. But you really wanted to feel useful, seeing as Din recently has been ignoring you, there wasn't much you could do without double checking if he was alright with it first.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you work, and I can charge that Mandalorian of yours extra for babysitting."

oh boy. Maybe you didn't think that through.

"Yeah, sure. So,"

You turn back to the crest, seeing that most of the damage is on top.

"Um, how do I get up there?"

Peli shows you to a pulley system that looks like it might fall apart at any moment, and that blends into the rest of the tan sandy color this town is made up of. You give it a wary glance, Peli patting your shoulder before walking away.

“Well, here’s goes nothing I guess.”

It’s almost an hour later when you're working on a particularly blackened area and the angry voice of your favorite tin can rings throughout the bay.

"Where are they!"

You decide to finish up on one last spot before revealing yourself to Din, y'know because your so hard working and all (total not because you wanna mess with him or anything)

"I'm up I'm up!!, Aw you woke it up. I just got it to sleep."

Guess Peli and Bean were getting along well.

"Give him to me, and where is she."

You sigh, putting down your tools before climbing to the edge.

"Hey, bucket head! I'm right here."

Din doesn't seem too impressed by your new spot apparently.

"What are you doing? Get down from there."

You roll your eyes, tired of his off and on attitude.

"Oh relax, I'm fine and I'm fixing your ship."

"I don't care, get down."

jeez, what crawled into his beskar and died. you cross your arms at him.

"No."

Din walks over to a spot directly below you, tapping the side of the crest hard enough to send vibrations up the ship and throw you off balance enough to tip you off the ship. You let out a scream and scrunch your eyes, only opening them when you land in a strong pair of arms instead of on the ground.

"Hey! what if I had splattered all over the ground hmm?"

Din continues to hold you bridal style in his arms.

"Shut up."

but of course, you don't.

"And incase you haven't noticed, your ship? is a mess, and I was up there cleaning it? helping you?"

"You already help me enough when your not 30 ft off the ground about to kill your self."

This earns Din a glare from you.

"Well I wouldn't have almost fallen and killed my self if someone hadn't come over and knocked me off my balance."

Din shakes his head, walking over to peli with you snug against his chest.

"Whatever. I don't want you up there anymore, you- you, um, could've gotten hurt, and I need someone to watch the child."

oh. you turn you head down and stare at your hands, only picking it back up when Din stops moving and you can feel his scalding gaze on the side of your head. Slowly you look up at Din, making eye contact with where you hope his eyes are through the visor, the two of you stay like that for a few moments until Peli clears her throat, snapping the two of you out of whatever you just shared.

"Alright you two love birds, you still got a lot to learn about raising a young one."

She points her gaze mostly at Din while she says this.

"Your lucky you have this one around to keep everything in check."

You blush slightly at the complement, while Din seems to realize finally that he still held you in his arms, setting you down gently before turning back to Peli.

"Thank you."

Din nods as he speaks, then turns on his heel

to walk up into the Crest.

"Oh you got a job, Didn't you?"

Din, in classic mandalorian fashion, doesn't answer, instead grabbing a bag from the ship and walking back towards the exit. You and peli share a glance before following him out.

"You know, it's costing me slot of money to keep these droids even powered up."

You both exit to see Din standing next to a speeder bike, and identical one right next to it with a younger man leaning against it.

The man watches as Din adjusts something near the front of the bike.

"Well, what'd you expect. This isn't Corellia."

The man at this points turns to where you and peli had arrived, giving a nod to you both, and winking at you.

"Ladies. Toro Calican, nice to meet you."

You give a small smile and nod, not wanting to be rude, before walking closer to Din.

"You comin' with us too gorgeous?"

You ignore the comment, having grown used to drunk men on Nevarro cat calling you, but you see Dins head snap in Toro's direction, not ceasing his glare until you light tap him.

"What's the job?"

Din sighs, already knowing you may not like his answer.

"Fennec shand, an elite mercenary."

Your eyes widen.

"Elite mercenary?! are you crazy?"

"I'm covered in beskar, I'll be fine. It will take about a day tops. And no more climbing on top of the Crest."

You sigh at his parent like scolding before nodding at him.

"I- okay, just please be careful."

You plead to him with your eyes, and after regarding you for a moment, he nods his head. You step back to Peli, who is now giving an annoyed look to Toro. Both men mount their bikes and speed off. You watch until they disappear from the horizon.

~•~•~

"So what's going on with you and that Mandalorian?"

It's been a couple hours since Din left, and you finally were able to put Bean to sleep, allowing you and Peli both to work on the ship. She had also over heard your conversation with Din earlier, along with his order to stay off the top of the ship, which you were currently in a debate about.

"Nothing. He's my boss, I'm his employee. He won't find out if I get on top of the ship or not, it's a hassle to get up there, and you shouldn't have to do it."

But still, Peli fires back.

"Nuh uh, if you do fall or he does find out you were up here, I'm dead meat. He cares for you, that Mandalorian, and I'm sure he would kill anyone who puts those important to him in harms way."

You sigh at your obvious defeat, continuing back on your busy work.

"He doesn't care for me. He has ignored me for this whole last week, and before that, he wanted to leave me on a planet! That's not how you treat someone you 'care about'".

You add quotations marks with your fingers, looking up at Peli who has a 'you sure' look on her face.

"What?!"

Peli sighs and continues back on her work, shaking her head.

"I'm just sayin' he cares for you. Anyone can see that, he just might not know how to deal with it, with his code and whatnot."

You pause, thinking over Peli's words, and their resemblance to Caras a few weeks back. You already know you'll get yourself stressed if you continue to think about what she said. Actions speak louder than words, especially in Dins case, and so far they've shown no sign of returning your feelings one bit.

You continue working on tiny dents or scratches on the hull, having already done wiring and tightening earlier that day. You finally take a breather, only to look up and see the sky is dark. how long have you been working? A bad habit you have was keeping yourself occupied from your thoughts instead of sorting through them. You tend to over think and over analyze everything, and sometimes you enjoy having peace from your mind instead being caught up in its current.

You go and put your tools somewhere safe, making sure to be quiet, aware of the other 2 currently sleeping occupants of the bay. trudging up to the shower, the days work suddenly sets in, and your exhausted. The combination of your overactive mind, the stress of Dins avoidance, and a baby who's sleep schedule is basically non existent, has left getting very little sleep the last few days. You step out of the shower, and right on cue, a muffled cry sounds throughout the ship. You quickly throw on a large shirt and shorts, mindful of the warm weather before rushing to Beans pod.

~•~•~

"Well, someone's a morning person."

You give Peli a death glare, after giving one to the little green devil in her arms, who coos up happily at you.

"Yeah, well Bean decided that he didn't want to sleep last night, and also decided to not let anyone else sleep either."

Peli huffs out a laugh petting Green Beans large ear. You smile at the action.

"Looks like someone's a little trouble maker hmm?"

Your glad to see the two get along well.

"Oh he's a trouble maker alright. Hey, uh, what time is it anyways?"

Din said within a day, so your hoping he's back soon. You know it's irrational but you can't help having a bad feeling about his extended period of absence. Sure he's been avoiding you, but at least he was still there. Even though it hasn't been that long, knowing he's out in the middle of the desert against an elite mercenary worries you to no end.

"about 10:00, don't worry, he'll be back soon."

Peli gives you a wink and you shake your head, turning to walk back to where you left your tools the night before and getting to work, only stopping for water and to feed bean throughout the day.

Your worry for Din had significantly grown until you realized the sun was about to set. it's been more than a day. You feel your hands getting clammy and try to calm your racing thoughts, until the sound of a speeder approaching brings you out of your head. You breath a sigh of relief, ignoring the nagging feeling at the back of your head, walking to meet Din. Toro walks through first, and when Din doesn't, your worry grows once more.

"Where's Mando?"

Toro looks at you with a predatory smirk.

"He's on his way, don't worry sweetheart."

You nod letting out a breath, still feeling uncomfortable under his stare.

"Do you- Do you know when he'll be back?"

Toro let's out a chuckle.

"A few hours maybe, and then, I'll have my tickets into the guild. But you, I think I might wanna keep you around, so tell me where the target is."

Your relief quickly snowballs into repulsion, overpowering your fear.

"I'm not telling you anything!"

You quickly get at punch in on Toros jaw and a kick in between his legs before running to find Peli and Bean. You don't expect Toro to tackle you to the ground, hoping your kick would've kept him down long enough for you to warn Peli.

"oh come on love, you don't wanna be like that do you?"

****tw

Hot tears spring to your eyes when you feel him start to grope your breast painfully, his other hand hold your arms behind your back. He continues to touch you as your try to squirm from his grip. “Don’t play hard to get gorgeous. you know you want this.” His hand slowly travels down further, under the waistline of you pants. “I can give you so much more than that Mandalorian.” Your brain kicks into overdrive when you feel him enter you with a finger. More tears stream down your cheeks as you rack your brain for the training Din and Cara had given you. When you feel his grip lessen, you kick your heel up hard into his shin, using the distraction to rid your arms from his grip. “You bitch!!”

***Tw end]

You ignore his yells and run to find Peli still by the ship, Bean in her hands, looking confused and nervous.

"Peli you have t-"

Your cut off by a blaster shot followed by a searing pain in your left calf. You stumble and your vision blurs momentarily. Managing to stay upright, you make your way over to Bean only to pause when Toro points a gun at Peli's head.

"Come over here and I won't shoot this nice mechanic. You're more important to the Mandalorian than she is, so don't think I will hesitate to end her life."

Peli shakes her head but you don't want to take any chances. You nod at him once and stumble over towards them, taking Bean into your arms. Toro holds the both of you at gun point, Peli on your left, him on your right.

You have to physically work to keep yourself standing. The adrenaline rush from earlier is wearing off, and your exhaustion from the last week is taking its toll. Your nodding off when the familiar sound of his boots snaps you back up. Your almost in tears at the joy you feel at him being there. He walks through the opening and immediately his visor locks onto you. It strays for a few seconds to analyze your situation before returning to your face. You try to give him a slight smile, but it turns out at more of a grimace when Toro stabs the blaster into your back, pushing you forward and forcing you to apply weight to your leg. Din also notices this, and you see his fists tighten the further down his gaze gets.

"Took you long enough Mando. Drop your blaster and raise em', or else I shoot your girlfriend here straight through the brain."

You can practically feel Dins anger and frustration radiating from him. You try to shake your head, knowing that Bean would still be safe if you weren't, But then he puts down his blaster and does as Toro said.

"Cuff him."

Toro passes a pair of binders to Peli, who reluctantly walks behind Din to place them on, only, from your vantage point, you can see her focus on his hands and whisper something to him. Toro is too caught up in his 'success' to see that she hasn't put them on yet. You sway on your feet again, feeling the effects of blood loss on top of everything else. how have I not passed out yet?

"You're a guild traitor Mando, and I'm willing to bet this right here-"He gestures to Bean with his blaster "- is the asset you helped escape, and after I turn you in, I’ll have your plaything all to myself."

The world sways around you, and suddenly a bright flash blinds you causing you to stumble and fall off the ramp.Your too exhausted to move, and your eyes close on their own account. You think you hear a blaster shot and a body fall, but your eyes won’t open to check. voices fill your ears, but you don’t quite know what their saying. You feel yourself being pulled into someone’s arms along with frantic yelling before everything goes black.

~•~•~

Din watches as Toro nudges you down the ramp, his anger growing, but also his fear, an emotion he hadn’t felt until you and Bean came into his life.

He also notices the way you wince when you step foward, prompting Din to scan over your body and find a blaster wound in your calf, that is still bleeding. His fists clench at the way Toro looks at you and talks about you. as a ‘plaything’, when you’re so much more.

He sees the way you eyes will unfocus and your balance will waiver, the bags under your eyes looking worse than they had the last week, and he was afraid he might be the cause of it.

The time for his plan finally presents itself, and Din sets off the flash charge, blinding Toro and shooting him, but Din also watches as you tumble off the ramp aswell, your eyes falling shut. His first and only thought is you and the kid, who Peli finds behind some crates. You, on the other hand, are passed out on the ground.

“Cyar’ika?? can you hear me?”

Din presses his fingers to your neck to double check that your alive. Your pulse is slow, too slow. Din starts to panic, yet another emotion you’ve managed to bring out in him, along with many others. He pulls you up into his arms, walking with you bridal style up to the crest.

“Cyar’ika please, I need you to stay with me.”

Gently setting you down on the cot, Din quickly grabs a med pack. He tears off the pant from your knee down, grimacing at the blaster wound. Peli comes up soon after with Bean. Din had just cleaned the area and turned to grab a bacta patch, but freezes as he turns around. Bean had his eyes closed, hand on your leg, and Din watched as your wound closed under his fingers. The act appeared to tire him out, as he sat back and closed his eyes afterwards. Din stared at the now sleeping kid, slowly picking him up and putting him back in his pod. He gave his head an affectionate swipe with his thumb, before closing the pod to let him sleep.

You shoot up from your cot, your heart pounding out of your chest. You slightly calm down, but remember yesterday’s earlier events and rush out of the room. You don’t even stop to wonder why your leg appears perfectly healed as you run to check the Beans pod. It’s not in the crest. breathe. you have to tell yourself, though it doesn’t help much. You know the ship isn’t moving, but what you aren’t sure of is whether you’re still on the sand planet with Din, or on a planet to turn Bean in. You heave a sigh of relief when you see that you’re still in the maintenance bay. You hear someone working on the ship, assuming it’s peli, and go to meet her.

“Hey Peli wheres....oh, hey I was just coming to look for you. Is bean alright?”

Din had looked up from his work and stood staring at your for a good minute and a half. You take a quick glance around and a step foward before speaking again.

“Din?”

In a flash he’s i front of you and has his arms around your waist, pulling you into him. Your arms tighten around his shoulders as you bury your face in the fabric between his shoulder and neck. A few tears escape your eyes as you think back to how Toro had touched you, and how exhausting this week was in general.

“I’m so sorry cyar’ika, I’m so sorry I- I shouldn’t have— shouldn’t have done any of that.”

You shush Din, squeezing him for dear life until you feel ready to talk.

“Do you, um, do you wish that you left me? O-on Sorgan?”

Your voice is quiet but you know he heard it by the way his body slightly tenses against your own.

“No, no cyar’ika, I don’t.”

You still don’t understand. why did he ignore you? why did he insist on you and bean staying on Sorgan? Why does he act so hot and cold?

“Then why?”

you don’t have to say what you’re referring to, and your thankful of the shared understanding between you two in moments like this.

“I- I don’t think—”

You go to pull away, thinking that you read the situation wrong, but he tightens his grip around your waist before taking a deep breath.

I..I couldn’t leave you cyar’ika, not even if I tried.”


	6. Cyar’ika

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I am so so sorry this took me so long to post. I’m still not happy with it, but this is the best it’s going to get. There’s been a lot going on recently, and I just didn’t have the time or motivation to keep writing. But I’m going to try to keep up with this more. Thank you for all the reads and nice comments, it really means a lot. Anyway, here is a 9448 word mess of a chapter for you😳

"Thank you, for everything."

After your...talk with Din, you went to go find Peli and Bean, both of which appeared quite happy to see you. Apparently you had been out for almost 3 days, but in your state, you weren't surprised. What you were surprised about was the miraculous healing of your leg, which you found out was actually the work of Bean. The idea both warmed your heart and amazed you. Din had explained a bit about Beans abilities, sharing a particular story where he was almost crushed by a mud horn before bean had somehow held it in mid-air.

Now that you were healed, it was time to say goodbye.

"Ah, it was no trouble"

Peli leans in to whisper in your ear

"I was right you know."

she pulls away with a wink and you feel your face tinting pink, aware that she's referring to a comment she made the other day. 'he cares about you, and I know he would kill anyone who causes harm to those that are important to him.'

You can feel Dins gaze shift to the interaction and your now pink face, and you hope he doesn't question it. Thankfully, Peli turns her attention to him before he can make a comment.

"Take care of these two."

Din only offers a nod before making his way back. You give her a smile, turning to follow Din up the ramp.

That was a couple days ago, and now you're laying in your bed, willing yourself to sleep. Ever since that job you've been having nightmares, each time waking up with the phantom feeling of his grimy hands on you. You haven't been sleeping much because of it, and Din has definitely taken notice. He even asked if you were okay, which you replied to with an "of course!" He didn't believe you but hadn't pushed any further. You didn't even want to go to sleep at this point, so after laying in bed for a few hours to make sure Din and Bean went to bed, you decide to go up to the cock pit hoping the stars can provide you with some comfort.

Careful to stay light on your feet, you make your way up and into the pit, slightly jumping when you realize Din is in the pilots seat. shit.

"Oh, hey. Sorry I didn't know you were up here."

When you get no response, you assume he's sleeping, so you turn to leave when-

"sit down."

You jump at his voice. guess he's awake then.

You still keep your steps quiet, knowing that Bean could wake up at any moment. You sit down and turn your head to stare out the transparisteel, wondering about each star and planet your eyes land on and imagining what it might look like, what the people are like. The two of you sit in a slightly uncomfortable silence. After a few minutes though, you can't take the tension anymore.

"Do you always wake up this early?"

You intend it as a joke, but his response is nothing of the sort.

"No I just..never really sleep."

You open your mouth to chastise him, but he beats you to it.

"Why are you up?"

You freeze at his question, the nightmares flickering through your head.You don't want to bother him any more than you already do, so you attempt to lie, even though you know he can see through you like glass.

"M-me? oh you know um, just one of those nights."

But as you already knew, Din didn't believe you. You swallow as he slowly turns his seat to face you.

"The truth, cyar'ika."

You want to, but you can't. You don't want him to think you're weak, to think you're disgusting, to think you wanted it. You know you didn't, but Toro's words still linger in your head. Your eyes begin to sting with tears, and you quickly shake your head to clear them.

"W-what does that m-mean anyways?"

You cringe at the way your voice cracks, and you turn your head to hide your watery eyes, knowing that if you made eye contact you would burst. gosh you felt so small. so fragile. you thought you had fixed this on Sorgan. They had taught you how to fight, so why couldn't you? Heavy steps stopping in front of your seat pull you from your thoughts, but your eyes stay glued on the transparisteel beside you.

"Look at me mesh'la"

When your stare still doesn't stray from the window, a leather covered hand rises to your cheek, turning you towards Dins gleaming helmet. it's not until his thumb wipes a tear that you realize you're already crying.

"Tell me what's wrong."

His voice comes out quiet and soft, so gentle that the modulator makes it crackle. Despite his tone, you can't bring your self to get the words out.

"I-I can't."

it comes out as barely a whisper, as another tear rolls down your cheek. Din is nervous, he doesn't know what to do, how to comfort you. Going on instinct, he pulls you into his arms, and while you're still crying, you slightly relax in his embrace.

You can't put it into words, you don't even know how, what you would say. You don't think you want to either, to have to explain it and go through it again. And even if you could, your non stop tears would make it impossible. You almost don't want him to know, your insecurities flaring up. What he might think of you, what he might do. What if he didn't want you on his ship anymore? He needs someone who can be strong and help protect the baby, who's confident and a warrior. That's not you. And worse, you know that you're falling for Din. but if you thought before he wouldn't want you, why would he after he found this out? The thing that bothered you the most though, is that no one has touched you like that in a long time. Sure you had a few boyfriends, but nothing serious, nothing beyond kisses and a few touches here and there. It's almost embarrassing that you're 28 years old and still a virgin. Every time it came to that point, you couldn't do it. It never felt right, and you knew it stemmed from that stupid dream of having a soulmate.

"I can hear you thinking mesh'la. It's okay. Talk to me."

You shake your head, not even attempting to speak, knowing words would fail you. You think of the nightmares, the bags that have become more and more distinguished under your eyes, the numerous times you've caught yourself falling asleep, the concern radiating from both of your shipmates, and then you think of Din. You know how hard this must be for him. You realize that he's probably not used to comforting people, and you know he's trying his best for you. Still, you can't bring yourself to say anything. You almost wish you could show him, and as the thought hits you, the air changes and you suddenly see the incident playing clearly in your mind. You feel something connecting you to Din who suddenly tenses, his hold tightening as his hands ball into fists behind you.

"He touched you."

His voice is dark and full of anger, and it doesn't even come out as a question. When your only response is to bury your face deeper into his neck, Din gets his answer. He takes in a sharp breath, his hands flexing as he tries to reign in his anger.

"He's lucky that he's no longer alive, otherwise I would've hunted him down and tortured him until he begged me to die."

You ignore the multiple feelings hearing him say that brings you, the past few days being exhausting and your hazy brain can't dwell on them or how he figured out what happened. You don't want to think about anything except the feeling of his arms around you, which are still tight and clenched in fists.

"Din."

you remove your face from his cowl to look up at him with glossy, pleading eyes. He takes a few deep breaths, his hands eventually unclenching and his grip loosening slightly. You snuggle your face back into his shoulder, even though it's slightly damp with your tears.

You're not sure how long you both stay like that, but it's long after your crying ceased, leaving you tired emotionally and physically. You feel Dins hold on you slightly tighten once again.

"I'm so sorry cyar'ika, why didn't you tell me earlier?! I could've- could've-"

you're the one who cuts him off this time, once again moving so you can look into his visor.

"Din stop.There's nothing you could've done. You can't go back and change the past, but I...I need you here, now."

You're half conscious when you ramble this off to him, and you probably would've been dying of embarrassment had you been fully awake. But you finally feel calm in his arms, safe.

safe.

Din makes you feel safe, the feeling amplified by the weight of his beskar vambraces resting on your lower back. You and Din fall asleep in each other's arms, both exhausted, and both finding comfort in the other's closeness.

~•~•~

You wake up feeling well rested and comfortable, snuggling into your mattress... except normal mattresses don't have arms nor do they breathe.

you have to stop confusing him for things in the ship.

You try to jump off his lap, but his arms keep you in place. You look up at him with wide eyes and pink cheeks, and he finally realizes what he did. Quickly he lets go of you and clears his throat.

"I-I didn't want to wake you trying to bring you down the ladder. You needed to rest."

You nod, now sitting behind him in the copilots seat.

"No yeah, you're right."

He stares at you for a while, like you're something he's never seen before.

"How did you do that."

his voice is lower and huskier, his morning voice you realize now that you can think clearly, and you swear you almost die right then and there at the sound of it.

"Do what?"

Your voice is thick from sleep too (though not nearly as attractive) and though you're brain is still a bit foggy, you don't remember doing anything extraordinary.

"Last night you— I saw it in my head."

you freeze at this.

he saw it. saw you.

"I-I don't know I... like you saw it?

He simply nods, and you furrow your brows. You then remember what you had been thinking when he was holding you, and you realize what might've happened, though you don't know how.

"I-I was hoping I could show you what h-happened I guess, well not actually, because I don't think I really wanted you to know o-or see it that just s-seems worse-uh- so like you...you... uhm.."

Your heartbeat starts to pick up, along with your breathing, the insecurities and condescending thoughts once again crowding your thoughts, screaming at you. You can't imagine what he's thinking. You don't want to believe that he saw it, that he saw you like that.

"Hey hey, look at me."

Din soothes you with his voice, one of his hands reaching out to hold your hand, his thumb running up and down the back of it.

"Breathe mesh'la. You- You don't have to hide from me. It's okay. Breathe."

You focus on his voice instead of your thoughts, the movement of his thumb on your hand, and you manage to even your breathing enough to speak.

"I-I'm sorry."

Din shakes his head, giving your hand a comforting squeeze.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

You only nod, still feeling uncomfortable with the situation, and Din could tell. He saw it on your face last night, and he was thankful at times like these that your emotions displayed themselves on your face. He could see the disappointment you felt towards your self. He remembered what you had said to him on Sorgan, and he knew that's what was going through your head now.

"You're so strong cyar'ika, so incredibly strong, and it amazes me everyday."

And he was being honest. It's not easy to travel with him, most people would've left by now, especially after what happened on tattooine. But here you were, and trying to fight this on your own. You'd managed to keep taking care of the kid and the ship and Din, all while you were barely getting any sleep or peace. Din knew, what he's known for a while, that he feels more for you than he should, and he tried to stop it, thinking maybe pushing you away would cause his feelings to vanish, but it only got worse. Your grip tightening on his hand pulls Dins attention back to you, who looks up at him in awe and disbelief, along with tons of affection.

Even though he doesn't say much, somehow he always finds the right words. You know Din is being honest with you, and it brings a small smile to your lips. Not knowing exactly what to say, you change the topic to one that has been bugging you since Sorgan.

"That word, what does it mean?"

Din stills, but then brings his hand up to gently brush some hair from your face, the leather slowly coming down to incase your cheek.

"It's-It's mandoa', and it means...sweetheart or darling." or beloved. he doesn't say that though.

You think back to the first time you had heard him call you that, and your smile increases as you look up at his 'T' shaped visor. You again have no idea what to say, but thankfully Bean decided that moment to make it known to the universe that he had woken up.

"oh jeez."

You quickly jump up from your seat as the cries fill the ship, not dwelling on the fact you miss his hand on yours the minute you two are separated. You quickly scale down the latter and find Bean crying in his pod. You gently pick him up and smooth the peach fuzz on his head, realizing that this is probably the first time in a while he's woken up alone.

"Oh Bean, I'm so sorry. I left you here alone all night didn't I? That was not very nice of me."

Your voice is soft and you exaggerate your facial expressions as you rock him in your arms, the movements slowly calming him down.

"You can blame your dad for that one. He's covered in metal, but he's like... super comfortable to sleep on. Isn't that insane?"

Bean giggles as if he understands you, and you feel as though he does. You two have a connection, and you wonder if it has anything to do with your abilities. You both have them, so it would make sense. pushing those thoughts aside for another day, you slow your rocking, seeing as bean is completely calm now.

"Let's go see mr tin can hmm?"

~•~•~

You wake up the next morning in your own bed, Bean snuggled with you this time. He must sense you're awake, because soon your staring into his large brown eyes.

"Good morning bean."

He lets out an adorable coo and you smile.

"I guess we have to get up now hmm?"

With an unattractive groan you sit up and stretch your arms, bringing them back down to rub the sleep out of your eyes. After turning to pick up bean, you make your way up to the cockpit.

"Good morning..."

you notice that the crest is now back in hyperspace. You sit down with bean and buckle your seat before asking Din anything.

"... where are we going?"

You can practically feel Din's stress in the air but you don't know why.

"I got a job."

You still in your seat, the memories of his last job still very fresh in your head.

"why?"

You have so much you want to say to him, but that's the only word you can get out.

"We need the credits. We gave most of what we had to Peli last time. You and the kid will stay he-"

"No. I'm not going through that again. I can fight. I can shoot. I'm coming."

By now Din has turned to face you in his seat, his vambraces rested on his thighs as he tilts his head (for like the thousandth time) at you.

"I don't want you to get hurt. These aren't good people, and I've worked with them before. We... didn't part on the best of terms."

You couldn't go through worrying again. Last time he came back, but what if this time he didn't?

"Do you... Do you not trust me? We can fight in the hull on the way there if you want to practice."

You've already gone through everything you were taught on sorgan about five million times when you couldn't sleep, and this time you would be with Din if anything happened. You weren't getting left behind again, you wouldn't.

"It's them I don't trust. I know you can fight and shoot- hell you're good at both of those things, but these people... they're not friendly. They won't hesitate to turn their backs on us the second things go wrong."

You knew it was dangerous, but you didn't care. Where ever you were, if Din was with you, you would feel safe.

"I don't care. I'm not going to sit here for who knows how long worrying about you again."

Din shakes his head like you aren't understanding something.

"I need you safe cyar'ika, I can't have you hurt again, and the only way I can guarantee that-"

"you make me feel safe Din. Not the crest, you. I trust you. I know that wherever we go you'll keep me safe. So... I'm coming with you wether you like it or not."

The Crest comes out of hyperspace and Din turns around to guide it into a floating hangar, staying silent the whole time.

"Fine, but I need you to stay close to me alright?"

You actually did not think that would work. Who knew your stubborn Mandalorian would actually agree with you.

"Yes!"

too much

"I mean.. Yeah, yeah that works for me."

Din let's out an amused huff, setting down the crest. You follow him out of the cockpit, stopping slightly behind him as he opens his weapons cabinet. He grabs a small blaster, similar to the one you'd used on sorgan and after double checking the safety is on, turns back to you.

"Until we get you your own, this will have to work. You remember how the blaster on sorgan worked right?"

You nod, slightly preoccupied with the fact he basically said you'd be getting your own blaster. You fully focus though when Din explains how this smaller one works, taking Bean and making sure you can quickly take off the safety. He nods after a few times, rummaging around in a crate off to the side until he comes back with a something made of brown leather in his hand.

"Here. This used to be mine a while ago. It should still hold and fit okay."

As he holds it out you realize it's a holster. Before you can move, he's squatting down in front of you. He taps your ankle, and you get the message, lifting up your foot so he can slide it on. He continues up higher, his finger tips grazing the inside of your leg sending heat to your face and a certain space between your thighs. He stops at about mid-thigh, placing his hands more firmly on your leg and holster to keep it in place.

neither of you speak, and you don't think either of you can. He tightens the holster, hands lingering on your clothed skin for a bit longer than they need to.

"Good?"

His voice is more gruff than usual, and he quickly clears his throat, standing up and removing his hands without waiting for an answer. You nod anyways andslide your blaster into place, turning to follow Din who had opened up Beans pod, presumably for you to place him in.

You knew that Bean couldn't come along with you, but that doesn't make it any easier to leave him. You give him a quick kiss on the head, placing him in the pod and pushing it into your room to give him the hint to sleep. The door shuts as the ramp opens behind you. Din taps your arm signaling it's time to go.

"Remember what I told you."

He trails his fingers down to give your hand a quick squeeze, releasing it as the ramp hits the ground.

You both descend the ramp, you trailing just slightly behind Din. It's hard not to notice the many stares the two of you get while you continue through the place, many of them don't seem friendly. Feeling uncomfortable, you step a bit closer to Din, who thank fully doesn't say anything about it. Eventually you come up to a larger man with a long beard, the grey color giving away his old age. He gives the two of you a smile, but it doesn't comfort you at all.

"Mando! Is that you under that bucket?"

The two clasp and shake hands in greeting.

"Ran."

You notice how Ran's eyes flick to where you're standing, but he doesn't mention your presence.

"I haven't seen you in quite some time. How you been?"

Din doesn't answer with anything other than a nod, but Ran continues talking anyways.

"You know.. I never thought I'd see you in these parts again. Because I hear things.. Like maybe things between you and the guild aren't workin' out"

You glance up at Din, already not liking this job.

"I'll be fine."

Ran nods, once again glancing to your spot.

"Yup well, you know the policy, no questions asked, but I am curious about this pretty little lady right here."

you and me both. because truth be told, you're not sure what you are to Din. A baby sitter? Friend? something more?

"She's-"

"I'm his partner."

Ran once again gives a nod, giving an odd look to mando.

"Well, you two are welcome here anytime. Is your partner tagging along for this one mando?"

He only gives a nod in reply, and Ran turns to walk away, you and Din following behind.

Ran starts to ramble on about the mission, but you aren't paying too much attention, instead studying the place around you. Lots of people, all looking tired, some were dirty, others clean, but most looked busy. The atmosphere here is tense, and it's made you feel on edge since you left the ship.

"...It's a 5 person job, I got 4. all I need is the ride, and you brought it."

This catches your attention, and Din quickly whips his head over to where the crest is currently sitting.

"The ship wasn't part of the deal."

Ran appears unaffected by Din's obvious anger.

"The crest is the only reason I let you back in here."

You furrow your brows at Ran. You knew they had history, and Din told you he left on 'bad terms' but how bad was it exactly? Dins fists are now clenched, and he tilts his helmet down at Ran, who doesn't even look nervous.

"What's the look? Is that gratitude? mhm, I think it is."

Ran walks off and you raise your eyebrow at Din.

"I really think they like you Mando."

Din only sighs, placing his hand on your lower back as he leads you to once again follow Ran.

"It'll be a quick job cyar'ika. I promise, and then we'll never have to see them again."

He soothes his thumb on your lower back, only removing his hand when you make your way over to a man working at a table with a bald head and multiple guns strapped to his body.

"Hey, Mayfield. This is mando the guy I was telling you about."

The man puts down what he was working on and cocks a brow at Din.

"This is the guy?"

"Yeah, we used to do jobs way back when. you know, running with a mandalorian, that got us some reputation."

Mayfield glances over Din from head to toe.

"Oh yeah? What'd he get out of it?"

You were also slightly curious, but the tone of both men had you more focused on your surroundings.

"I asked him that one time you remember what you said mando?"

Din remains still, not saying a word.

"Target practice."

Ran let's out a chuckle and mayfield sputters out a laugh aswell, holding up his hands in mock surrender. You give Din a look that he ignores.

"That was a long time ago."

His voice is stiff, so different from when he talks to you, and you can tell this situation has him on edge as well.

"Well, I don't go out anymore, you understand? Mayfield, he's gonna run point on this job. He says it, it's like it's coming from me. You good with that?"

Din switches his attention over to mayfield, looking him up and down as the man had done earlier to him.

"You tell me."

Ran once again laughs, but Mayfield isn't as amused with Dins answer.

"You haven't changed one bit"

Ran says through his chuckles.

"Yeah well, things have changed around here."

Mayfield walks off with that, shaking his head slightly.

"Well Mayfield's one of my best triggermen... former imperial sharp shooter."

stormtrooper? You wonder, but you know those guys can't shoot for their lives. Din seems to think the same thing, and taunts Mayfield once again.

"That's not saying much."

Mayfield whips around with a displeased expression and you have to stifle your laugh.

"I wasn't a storm trooper wise ass!"

Ran has an amused expression on his face throughout the entire interaction.

"Don't take long does it."

He chuckles after and follows Mayfield.

when the two are out of earshot you turn to Din.

"So..target practice hmm?"

You give him a little smirk and he once again shakes his head at you.

"Don't remind me."

you giggle at him, and then remember his joke earlier.

"Who knew my Mandalorian could be funny?"

His helmet jerks to you, and you once again blush with wide eyes at him. someone needs to sew your mouth shut or something. seriously.

"I mean, like all Mandalorians are generally um.. not anything actually. n-not that that's a bad thing because you know the whole intimidating aura is really helpful for getting b-bountys probably s-so."

You awkwardly wrap your arms around you self and look around the hangar.

"Do I intimidate you mesh'la?"

His voice is deeper as Din takes a step closer, but you're rooted to your spot, your eyes having come back to his visor. Heat starts to form between your legs, and you try to subtly squeeze them together.

"I- No. n-not anymore."

His HUD picks up your increased body temperature, and Din takes another step.

"Anymore?"

really. you need to stop.

"Oh would you look at that, seems like they are calling our names so I think we actually need to go but I really enjoyed this conversation. mhm. great talk."

You turn away and speed walk over to where Mayfield and Ran had gone, hearing the tell tale sound of Din's boots quickly gaining on you, until he's right next to you, not saying a word.

You reach where Mayfield and Ran have stopped, seeing a large red alien man with horns coming out of his head. He walks over with a large crate and drops it like it weighs nothing. Mayfield starts to introduce the group, gesturing to the red alien first.

"Alright this here is Burg. In case you haven't guessed, he's our muscle."

Burg walks up to Din and circles him like prey, his eyes scanning him up and down while he does so.

"So this is a Mandalorian. I thought they'd be bigger."

Mayfield let's out a laugh and you keep your hand near your blaster. Din towers over you, but burg was a good few inches taller and wider than him.

A metallic clank draws your attention to a dark grey droid with large bug like eyes.

"the droids name is zero."

You glance around looking for the fourth person, but see no one in sight.

"I thought you said you had four."

A voice similar to that of nails on a chalkboard comes from behind you.

"He does."

You both turn to see a purple twilek making her way to the group.

"Hello Mando."

oh. they knew each other. okay that's fine, as long as she doesn't hate him. The twilek continues to walk a little too close to Din and you narrow your eyes at her.

"Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand."

You see it happen in slow motion as she picks up a blade and points it under Dins helmet. You blaster is pointed at her head in the same second. She turn her head to you and smirks.

"Oh what's this? Got a new toy mando?"

You don't like the feeling you get from her words and proximity to Din, and you try to push it down.

"I am not his toy."

The words bring back Dins last job, but you're done with people disrespecting you and Din.

"Figures. you're not his type anyways. He goes for the pretty ones."

You tighten your grip, only to loosen it when Din steps over to you and covers your hand with his, lowering the blaster and placing you behind him almost protectively.

"Xi'an. nice to see you too."

You know he's being sarcastic, but the words still sting.

"I missed you."

She takes a step closer and Din squeezes your hand, rubbing his thumb up and down in a calming manor.

"This is shiny, you wear it well."

Xi'an taps his chest plate with her blade, continuing to stand up close to Din.

"Do we need to leave the room or something?"

for once you're grateful to hear Mayfields voice. Ran answers with a tone of false pity.

"Well Xi'an's been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group."

you once again tense at this information, confirming that there had once been something between the two of them. You don't have the right to feel jealous, knowing Din doesn't feel for you as you do for him, but you can't help how it continues to simmer as she stands up close and eyes him like a piece of meat.

Din has thankfully taken a step away from Xi'an, closer to you.

"Oh you gonna be alright sweetheart?"

Xi'an steps back pointing her blade once again at Din.

"Oh I'm all business now. learned from the best."

You still have your blaster in your hand, which is still covered by Dins. He once again resumes running his thumb up and down your hand, continuing to calm you down. You don't know it, but having his hand on yours is calming him down too.

"Alright lovebirds, pack it up for the ship will ya?"

Mayfield and Ran continue off, and Xi'an follows suit, but not without a wink at Din. Your attention is brought away from the purple twilek when Burg once again walks up to Din.

"Tiny."

He walks off laughing and you finally place your blaster in your holster. Din turns in your direction, but you feel ashamed and instead keep your eyes at your feet. When neither of you move, You try to walk to where the rest of the group is, but Din's hand on yours stops you.

"Cyar'ika... are you jealous?"

His voice is genuinely curious, and almost amused, but it doesn't make you feel any better.

"No. o-of course not. why would I be jealous?"

Din takes his free hand and tilts your head up with his hand.

"Well, even though you're not jealous... Nothing ever happened between me and her. She had a thing for me, I didn't feel the same way."

You relax slightly at that, giving Din a small smile.

"Still wasn't jealous."

Din shakes his head, dropping your hand and nudging his head in the direction of the group.

Xi'an glares at you as much as she can the rest of the trip. After figuring out a) you were breaking into a republic prison ship, and b) a droid was flying the ship (which Din was understandably more upset about than you) the four of you- Mayfield, Xi'an, burg, and you- were in the main hull, Din and Zero up in the cockpit. You were standing near the ladder, close enough to where Bean was, but also not too close to the rest of the crew. Burg was pacing around the ship, which was starting to get annoying. Xi'an must've felt the same way, which you cannot believe you were even thinking.

"Will you sit down."

Burg loudly bangs the top of the ceiling, earning a hiss from Xi'an. You stayed quiet, ignoring jabs they would throw from time to time, and staying out of conversations if you could. You kept your eyes on each one of them, not trusting any of your new crew mates one bit.

Burg turned his attention to Dins weapons cabinet, and tried pulling at it to get it open. He turned to the keypad behind him, which was on the opposite side of the ladder from you, and somehow managed to open it. You internally rolled your eyes at Din. Sure, he wouldn't have visitors often, but you know he had bounties he'd take in (at least at one point) so it kind of seemed like common sense to change it. Speaking of, you glance up to see Din making his way down the ladder, closing the cabinet from his vambrace as soon as he's on the ground. Burg hits it with his fists when it closes, turning around and going to open the room where Bean is sleeping. You and Din both move to stop him, though you can't do much as Din is stood in front of you protectively. He manages to grab Burgs wrist and stop him, the two engaging in a stare off. Mayfield and Xi'an have noticed the commotion, and Mayfield attempts to calm things down.

"Alright alright I get it, I'm particularly about my personal space too. let's just do this job. We get in, we get out, and you never have to see our faces again."

Burg seems to not pay much attention to what Mayfield is saying, and continues to jab at Din.

"Someone tell me why we even need a Mandalorian."

"Well apparently they're the greatest warriors in the galaxy. So they say." Mayfield gives a little shrug, and you carefully move your hand closer to your blaster. You had a bad feeling, and recently, you've learned to trust your instincts.

"Then why are they all dead?"

Xi'an and Mayfield laugh at Burgs' comment, while you take a step closer to Din, who-upon realizing your presence- reaches to give your hand a quick squeeze as a way to comfort both of you.

"Well you flew with him Xi'an. Is he as good as they say."

Xi'an glances at Din for a moment before returning her attention to Mayfield.

"Ask him about the job on Alzoc III"

Dins fists clench at the name, and you can't help but feel curious. Still, you aren't going to press on the matter. He talks when he wants, and you're thankful you know anything about him at all. His voice comes out strained, almost regretful, when he speaks.

"I did what I had to."

At this, Xi'an pauses playing with her blades and gives him an almost unbelieving look, pointing her blade at him in accusation.

"Oh but you liked it. See I know who you really are, but I wonder.." Xi'an's blade and focus turns to you. "..does she?"

You narrow your eyes, but still remain silent. You know Din, and you know he's changed since he last ran with this group. You know he's cold at first. You know he's strong. You know he can kill without a second glance. but you also know he is extremely caring. you know he has a soft spot under all that beskar. You know he'd protect the people he cares about regardless. You know he speaks in actions instead of words. You know he's lived a life that hardened him, a life that caused him to lose his childhood. You know he has a heart, has emotions, and you know that Xi'an is talking to a completely different man now than she was years ago. You're the one to reach for Din's hand this time, giving him a squeeze just like he had done earlier.

as he has many times before, Mayfield once again breaks the tense silence.

"He never takes off the helmet?"

it's directed towards Xi'an who shakes her head, placing a fist over her heart and dropping her voice low, mocking Din "This is the way."

Mayfield let's put a chuckle, even as the atmosphere continues to grow tense.

"I wonder what you look like under there. Maybe he's a gungan. Is that why yousa don't wanna show your face?"

Burg and Xi'an both laugh, the deep chuckle paired with what is more a screech combining and making you slightly cringe.

Mayfield continues on, and Dins hidden grip on yourhand tightens with his next words.

"Come on mando you gotta show us something, we all have to trust each other here."

You don't like where this is going, and a gut feeling has you placing your hand closer to your blaster.

"just lift up the helmet. let us all see your eyes."

you wouldn't have caught it if you weren't paying attention, the slight change in Mayfields eyes from Din over to burg, who was still in front of Din, and after a barely noticeable nod from Mayfield stepped closer.

"I'll do it."

Burgs hand comes up to Dins helmet and you quickly move so Din has more room. Before you can get any hits on Burg though, he pushes Din who's hand slaps the controls for his room on accident as he tries to stop his fall, Green Bean standing right at the entrance on the cot, tilting his head at the new faces in the hull.

seeming to be the most talkative one, Mayfield is (once again) the first person to say something.

"Woah! What is that." he makes his way over, pausing when he's in arms distance from Bean. "wairta second, did you to make that?" he looks from Xi'an to Din, both with unamused expressions. "What is it like a pet or something?"

Din is next to you now, and you can once again feel him. His anger, stress, and even fear. "Yeah. Something like that."

Xi'an gets up and makes her way to Din, pushing you out of the way, and getting up close to him with her blade held loosely in her hand. "I didn't take you for the type. Maybe that code of yours has made you soft."

Your attention is drawn from Xi'an back to Mayfield, who picked up bean and now held him awkwardly in his arms. You and Din both slightly move towards him, but he pauses and holds you back as well.

"Me? I was never into pets, never had the patience. But i'm thinking maybe i'll try again with this little guy. huh?"

Mayfield looks at you and Din with a smirk, pretending to drop bean causing both you and Din to slightly jerk forwards to catch him. The group around you laughs, only to be cut off by Zeros electric warning.

"Dropping out of hyperspace now."

Suddenly you're being thrown around, Beans cries audible to you amongst the noise of boxes being slammed on the ceiling and grunts. Din manages to grab your waist, along with Bean, so that when the ship comes to land, you're on top of him. neither of you move for a second too long as you stare into his visor.

"That stupid droid didn't even give us a proper count down."

Xi'ans angry voice reminds you of your surroundings, and you quickly scramble off of Din, mumbling a sorry and grabbing Bean. You place him back in the cot, soothing his head and tidying his robes. Closing the door, you turn back to see burg throwing a crate behind him, uncovering a hatch that's connected to the prison, and is your way in.

"Alright Mando you're up." Mayfield says.

You walk towards Din by the hatch, while Mayfield and Xi'an step away from the group. Din gets out a device and connects it to a port by the hatch, it lets out clicks and beeps before the hatch of the prison ship opens up.

You hear Xi'an and Mayfield whispering, the two joining the rest of the group once the hatch has been opened. Burg and Xi'an turn to Mayfield, who looks between them uncertainly. "it's me?"

Burg nods. "always you."

Mayfield drops down to the hatch, grabbing a gun and peering down into the prison. after double checking the coast is clear, he completely disappears down the hatch. Xi'an goes next, and your pretty sure she lets out a his when she gets down(why? you have no idea). Burg jumps down afterwards, and you're surprised the noise didn't wake up the entire ship. It's only you and Din left, but before you go he grabs your arm.

"You sure you wanna do this?"

You look into his visor where you hope his eyes are and nod. "I'm sure."

He exhales deeply, looking back at the door that bean is currently behind for moment, and then turning back to you.

"Just- stay close to me cyar'ika, okay?"

You nod at him again, your voice coming out as almost a whisper. "okay."

his hand remains on your arm for a split second longer before retreating back to his side. You take that as your cue to go, and you climb down the ladder. Din jumps down and is behind you by the time your blaster is out.

"Alright we're on the clock." Mayfield double checks his blasters

"the second we engage those droids they'll be all over us."

Din is next to you by now and has his blaster out as well.

"I know the drill."

after waiting for confirmation from Zero, the group starts moving to the control room.

Many of the prisoners seemed intrigued by your ragtag group, coming up to the cell windows and watching you pass. Some seemed purely curious, but most had less than friendly expressions on their faces, which only added to the bad feeling in your gut.

"I don't like this."

Din obviously felt the same as you, and you don't think it helped that you were breaking out a prisoner that's done who knows what. You almost tear your ear drums out when Xi'an decides she needed to talk back to him.

"You always were paranoid."

up in front you hear mayfield let out a huff.

"Is that true mando were you always paranoid."he mocks Din.

suddenly the group jumps as one of the prisoners slams against their door with a growl, causing Xi'an to hiss at it and Din to protectively place an arm in front of you, making you blush... again. It's honestly ridiculous how easily he flusters you.The prisoner causes you to he even more on edge, but is apparently amusing to Burg and Xi'an.

As your approaching the control room, a mouse droid zooms around the corner, startling the group into fighting positions for a split second.

"What? It's just a little mousey." Burg says as if he also didn't flinch. he then proceeds to creep up to the droid.

"c'mere little mouse."

you watch as he keeps his blaster behind his back, and you cannot imagine he has good intentions.

When the droid, instead of following his directions, begins to move away, he shoots it. great.

"Burg what are you doin'?!"

at least mayfield has some sense in him. Burg on the other hand doesn't seem to think he did anything wrong, simply replying with a bored "what" before

"Intruder alert. open fire."

3 republic droids with guns out appear from around the corner. Din quickly grabs your arm and pulls you back to get some cover. You both try to shoot but it's no use. you hear the sound of Din putting his blaster in his holster and turn to him, confused.

"Stay here."

you want to tell him to be careful, but he's already down the hall.

Mayfield, Xi'an and Burg start to get agitated with the lack of droids on the floor.

"

Mando c'mon I thought you were something special!"

Mayfield looks over to see that Din is gone, but you refuse to make eye contact, keeping your focus on the droids.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Mayfield yells over Xi'ans growling.

You know he has a plan... or at least you hope he does. He wouldn't leave you here to die.. right?

you were right.

Din appears behind the droids, pulling out his viroblade in one hand and blaster in the other. He runs the the droid closest to him, dropping at the last moment and slicing its lower leg clean off with his blade. He quickly jumps up and kicks the Droid in front of him, a second before shooting the one next to it.

Though the droid who's leg he cut couldn't move, it could still shoot. The shot on his pauldron, though not causing any damage, distracted him enough for the last droid to grab his chest plate and slam him against the wall, first on his back, then to his side.

You winced but stayed put. You didn't want to accidentally shoot Din, and you also knew how capable he was, plus he had told you to stay there. but...

You watch as Din effortlessly avoids punches thrown at him, grabbing a piece of the droids middle and tearing it out, throwing it straight into the eye of a droid that was about to shoot him.

He attempts to rip the arm off of the droid closest to him, but he can't get it off in time before he's blasted in the chest plate and thrown back onto the ground.

He quickly shoots a chord out of his vambrace, which wraps around the furthest droids neck. When Din roughly pulls, it smashes into the other droid, knocking them both to the ground.

He gives on last pull, and the droids head is ripped off.

Two more droids enter the hallway, causing Din to quickly roll out of the way of their blasts and aim his flamethrower at them, though they’re too far out of reach to catch. He pulls a similar stunt with his chord, pulling the second droid into the flames and burning its inner wiring.

He grabs one of the droids discarded guns from the ground, slamming it into the last droids knee and forcing it to kneel. He quickly knocks the droid's blaster out of its grip before shooting it straight through the head with his own.

Din throws the gun to the side of the hall way, standing with his fists clenched and his cape slightly skewed as his chest visibly rises and falls.

It was hot. You wanted to melt right there and also fu- woah girl. calm down.

You replace your blaster in your holster, following after the everyone else. Mayfield makes a point of looking around at all the destroyed droids.

"Make sure you clean up your mess."

Your stomach tightens when Xi'an once again crowds Dins space and gives him a smile akin to that of a sharks. Burg, being the big child that he is, gives out a huff, bumping into Dins shoulder as he jogs by him.

You make your way up to him next, scanning him for any visible injuries.

"Are you alright."

Your gaze meets his visor after double checking there's no bleeding anywhere and he gives you a nod. You glance around and unconsciously bite your lip, the image of him fighting and the way he stood with such dominance and composure after was seared into your brain and causing your stomach to feel all sorts of things. it also caused your brain to make up all sorts of scenarios that you knew you should not be thinking about. he doesn’t think of you that way.

the sound of clenching leather you know so well causes you to furrow your brows, confused why he's tense now. what you didn't know, was that his HUD and heat sensors were still on from his fight with the droids, and it allowed him to see the way your body, specifically between your legs, had heated up as you watched him and as you stood before him now.

"cyar'ika."

It's so deep it's almost a groan, and your eyes quickly widen, thinking he's in pain.

"What? what's wrong? I thought you said you were okay?"

You scan him once again and he shakes his head at your worrying.

"I am. let's go meet up with the others. the faster we get there, the faster we get this done."

You nod, your desire to finish this job and confirmation that he's okay causing you to refrain from questioning him right now.

You quickly catch up with the others, catching the end of Mayfield yelling into his com link. You almost feel bad, but then remember that droids don’t have feelings. The door slides open and you let out a gasp. There’s a man inside wearing a large white helmet with a blue outfit. He quickly spins in his chair and point his blaster at your group, who has now entered the control room.

“There were only supposed to be droids on this ship”

Dins filtered voice comes out strained next to you.

“Hang on hang on.”

Mayfield walks over to one of the computers quietly talking to himself while he types something in.

“alright cell 221. now”

he turns to the man

“for our well dressed friend here.”

said ‘friend’ pulls out a small rectangular device, and while you have no idea what it is, Mayfield and Din seem to tense up.

“Stop! s-stop right there!”

You can feel the mans anxiety, and it only makes you feel worse, nausea climbing up your throat.

Mayfield quickly puts out a hand in a placating manor

“alright. easy egg head.”

But the man doesn’t relax at all.

“What is that thing?”

Burg asks what you’ve been wondering.

“It’s a tracking beacon. he clicks that thing and we’re dead. a new republic attack team will hone in on its signal and blow us all to bits.”

This captures xi’ans attention, who had been previously playing with her blades once again.

“Are you serious?”

Mayfields expression isn’t amused.

“Yes I’m serious.”

at this, Xi’ans expression turns to one of anger

“and you didn’t think to tell us this tiny, little detail.”

“I didn’t think it’d get to this point.”

“yet here we are.”

Mayfield is the one to get angry now.

“Are you questioning my managerial style Xi’an!?”

She laughs- more like screeches- and salutes him with her blade in a mocking manner.

“No sir.”

You keep your attention on the pair until you hear Dins voice from beside you.

“hey, look at me.”

You notice Din has put his blaster back in its place and takes a step closer to the man and slightly in front of you. Once he has his attention, he turn his helmet to Mayfield.

“put down your blaster.”

“What? are you crazy!”

“put it. down.”

Mayfield shakes his head, but complies. Din turns back to the man.

“What’s your name.”

his tone is non-threatening, and you relax a bit knowing that he has this partly under control.

“It’s D-Daven.”

“Daven. We’re not here for you, we’re here for a prisoner. If you let us go about our way you can walk away with your life.”

movement to you right gets your attention. Mayfield has his blaster out once again pointed at Daven.

“No he won’t.”

Din subtly takes out his blaster.

“do you realize what you’re gonna bring down on us? we’re not killing anyone.”

Mayfield turns his blaster at Din, who reciprocates just as quickly, and your eyes widen as Mayfield’s pack unfolds, showing two more blasters ready to fire.

“get that blaster out of my face mando.”

Dins grip tightens.

“can’t do that.”

Mayfields face grows red.

“Get that blaster out of my face mando!”

At this point you’ve taken your own blaster out, but have no clue who to point it at. Burg points a blaster at Din, who brings up his flamethrower vambrace and growls out a “Don’t.”

You feel something to your right, and watch in slow motion as Xi’an throws her blade at Daven, who falls to the floor. You stare at her wide eyed as she looks at his dead body with a smirk.

The three men lower there blasters, and you let out a breath.

“You crazy twi. I had it under control.”

Xi’an gets up to retrieve her blade from Davens stomach, and you have to turn your head.

“Yeah, looked like it.”

Din is still tensed up, and you take a step toward him before pausing as a beeping sound fills the room. The tracking beacon, now on the floor, it’s blinking orange and red.

“Was that thing blinking before?”

as if on que, the droid links mayfield. You tighten your hold on your blaster when you find out you only have 20 minutes until they arrive. Xi’an does not appear phased, shrugging her shoulders at the information.

“We only need 5.”

The group moves out into the hall, and with one last look at Daven, you follow behind.

A few minutes later you arrive at a cell.

“Z open it up!”

“You have approximately 15 minutes remaining.”

You have a bad feeling about this.

“Open it up!”

The cell starts to unlock, and after a few seconds, slides open. You furrow your brows at the prisoner inside. He’s another twilek, with similar coloring to Xi’an, and wearing a yellow shirt with brown pants. Din walks up to the opening, the twileks name slipping out with a tone of surprise.

“quinn.”

The twilek walks up to him and laughs, once again reminding you Xi’an.

“Funny. the man who left me behind is now my savior.”

You guess this man was part of the group when mando worked with them. Your curiosity about young Din is peaked once again. You can’t think on it much though and your eyes widen in horror when burg punches Din in his chest plate, sending him flying into the cell.

“Mando!”

You try to run to him but Mayfield pulls you away.

“Let go of me!”

mayfield only chuckles

“not a chance sweetheart.”

You take your blaster that’s still in your hand and aim it at Mayfields foot. He lets out a grunt of pain and lets go. You quickly run from his grip and point your blaster at the group.

shit.

it’s four against one, but your not leaving Din without a fight.

You transfer your aim between each of them, not wanting to strike first but needing a plan to get out of this. You feel a tug and quickly dash to your right, gasping when you hear the clang of one of Xi’ans blades on the wall behind you.

She takes your surprise to her advantage and throws another one. You notice it too late and hold your hands up on instinct. noises of confusion and anger cause you to open your eyes, and you don’t believe what your seeing when you do.

the blade is hovering right in front of your outstretched hand. You yank it back and the blade falls to the floor. You look up, ready to fight again, but are quickly knocked to the floor, Dins yells of anger the last thing you hear before everything goes black.


End file.
